The Champions' League
by ameyab97
Summary: Set 3 years after Finding the hidden feelings. All of our heroes are meeting up again after three years to compete in the Champions' League, which is held every decade. (Crappy story; ignore it if you want)
1. The Tournament of Champions

**Hey guys, welcome to the sequel of Finding the hidden feelings. This story has been set three years after the first one and the scene is as follows:**

 **Ash, the Kalos League winner, has now already defeated and claimed the positions of the Sinnoh champion and the Kanto champion. During this time, the former Sinnoh champion, Cynthia, had managed to decode the strange stone tablets that had suddenly started appearing all over the world in all the twelve regions and had found out about the existence of aura guardians and the dormancy of those aura powers within all the humans. She had said as much at a press conference and the many trainers who wanted to awaken those powers had tried too hard, resulting in the loss of their life. These casualties forced the champions to form an alliance, called the United Regions, and form a set of rules to prevent anyone from trying too hard. There were still quite a lot of things that were unknown about the aura energies and therefore, anyone found to be even trying to use aura under unsupervised conditions would be sentenced to a year in prison. Ash and a select few were the only ones who had managed to unlock and control the excessive power that aura gave to humans, making them the rare species who were born with the talent.**

 **Once every ten years, The Champions' League is held to determine the next Pokémon Master, and the trainer who wins after defeating all the champions _and_ the current Pokémon Master through a series of matches is crowned the master.**

 **I will explain how the matches are held in the story itself. And as you read, there is going to be aura as well. For those who had read the story I deleted (Sadly, I had lost the motivation to write it.), they will know what kind of aura mechanics I will include here. But no need to worry, I am going to explain it again in this story. To prevent any confusion, the earth of the Pok** **émon world (in this verse) is divided in two parts, the east and the west. The east part is where six of the regions are (Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos) while Alola and the remaining five are in the western hemisphere.**

 **Now, without any further ado, let's start with the first chapter!**

* * *

Chapter 1: The Tournament of Champions

"The Champions' League, eh?" The raven-haired trainer spoke, looking at his honey-blonde girlfriend. "Sounds interesting."

"I am not so sure, Ash," his girlfriend said, looking back. "You don't sound all that interested."

"Come on, Serena," said Ash, rolling his eyes. "I am not a kid anymore. Do you really expect me to jump around celebrating this?"

Serena chuckled at him. "Not really; if you ask me, being and sounding mature just doesn't seem to suit you."

Ash chuckled at her statement. "If I do something like that, I wouldn't be a good example for my students."

"True," said Serena, nodding. "But you do intend to participate, don't you?"

"Of course!" Ash exclaimed. "This is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; not to mention, all the champions will be participating. I bet every one of them has trained hard to try and win this league."

"Once you win this league, you will finally reach your goal, your dream, won't you?" asked Serena, looking up from the letter she had been reading.

"Yeah," said Ash, nodding. "I can't wait. After winning, I will finally be able to settle down and focus on passing on my knowledge of pokémon to my students."

"You know what? I really doubt you will be able to settle down," said Serena, smiling at him.

"Who knows?" Ash shrugged his shoulders. "What else does the letter say?"

Serena turned back to the letter and quickly skimmed through the rest. "They say you won't need to battle in the preliminaries, where they filter out the thousands of candidates. Since you have already defeated three of the twelve champions so far, you will be able to directly participate in the rounds before quarter-finals."

Ash frowned when she said that. "Pass me my Holo Caster, will you? I would better talk with Goodshow."

Serena stared at her boyfriend for a moment. "I guess you want to tell him not to make you an exception, right?"

Ash smiled at her. "You know me too well, Serena. It's no fun when you don't have to battle for a place and can simply skip the preliminaries. I don't want that kind of special treatment."

"Here," said Serena, handing him the device. "The letter even says that anyone can participate, so I guess all of our friends would be participating."

Ash paused and looked up from the letter he was writing. "You should have told me that sooner, you know. I can't wait to see them again. It's been three years since all of us met together at one place."

Serena frowned a bit, but then smiled again almost at once. "That's right. I wonder how everyone's been. Especially Max and Bonnie. Those two have been travelling together, haven't they?"

Ash, having become quite perceptive during these three years, had noticed the slight change in Serena's expression. He didn't bother thinking about it for she had smiled almost at once. "Yeah," he replied. "I know those two have been training their aura along with that Ace guy who has been travelling with them since then. I wonder how strong they must have become."

"As much as you, if not more," Serena guessed as she put away the letter and looked over her boyfriend's shoulder.

"I don't know," said Ash, hitting the send button and shutting down the Holo Caster. "It would be a huge thing if they are stronger than me."

"They might be."

The two looked towards the source of the voice and saw Ash's mother, Delia, entering their room.

"Hey mom," said Ash, waving her over.

"What do you mean?" asked Serena curiously. "You mean to say they will be stronger than Ash?"

Delia nodded, putting away some bedsheets in the closet. "The younger a person is, the faster he learns things. Ash was seventeen when he started training his aura, while those two were just around ten. Besides, they didn't have any reporters hot on their heels to disturb them during training."

"Well, you have got a point there," said Ash, clenching his fist and staring at it. "But still, many people I meet say that I am the strongest aura guardian to ever exist because I have reached the higher level in such a short time. Not even Sir Aaron himself could reach it so quickly."

"I guess we'll just have to wait until we see them all," said Serena, getting up from her chair. "Let's get going. If you want to, you can train once we reach the hotel that has been specially reserved for the champions. We have to go to Lumiose City."

"That will be perfect," said Ash, getting up. "We'll be able to meet up with Clemont and Meyer."

"Are you coming with us, Delia?" asked Serena, looking at the woman.

Delia shook her head. "I will come there when the tournament starts." She winked at them. "No need to intrude in a couple's private time."

The two blushed lightly and chuckled. "Come on, mom. We haven't crossed the line yet."

"Maybe," said Delia, smiling knowingly at them. "But I want to be a grandmother soon. Don't make me wait."

"Mom!"

Delia left the room, laughing at them. The two exchanged awkward glances and chuckled. Ash shook his head at his mother's antics. He might be used to it but his mother knew just how to embarrass him.

"So, how are we going to go to Lumiose?" asked Serena, walking up to the wardrobe to choose the dresses she wanted to take.

"You'll see soon," replied Ash. "And don't bother choosing any clothes. You can purchase them with the others. I can bet all my money that you girls will go on at least one shopping trip throughout our stay at Lumiose."

Serena giggled. "I guess you are right."

The two left Ash's home, where they had been staying lately and helping Professor Oak with his summer camp, and went to the airport. A helicopter landed just as they arrived. The two boarded it and left for Lumiose.

"I guess being a champion helps," said Serena, nestling in the crook of Ash's neck happily.

"I guess," said Ash, smiling at her. He looked back ahead. _Champions' League, here I come!_

* * *

"Hey Bonnie, let's go to Lumiose," said Max, looking at his friend. "It'll be fun to participate in it even if we lose in the preliminaries."

"Why not?" Bonnie said, grinning at him. "It'd be great to see Clemont again."

"I bet he'll be surprised to see how much you have changed," said Max, grinning back at her.

It was true. During the three years that had passed, Max had lost his glasses and had started wearing jeans, while Bonnie's eyes had ended up weakening a bit, leading her to wear glasses – with red frame since that was what she preferred. She too had started wearing jeans and had stopped tying up her hair. Instead, her hair had grown quite a bit and was shoulder length now, which seemed to suit her well. What was more that the strange liquid, which they had ended up swallowing back when helping Ash fight Team Rocket, had somehow sped up their rate of growth twice than normal. Because of that, both of them looked in their mid-teens – around fifteen years of age – even when they were just around twelve.

"I guess we'll be meeting up with everyone," said Bonnie with a smile on her face. "It'll be good to see the others personally after three whole years."

"Yeah," Max nodded. "I wonder how strong they would be. Especially Ash."

At his mention, Bonnie frowned. "I am not too eager to meet him at the moment."

Max turned towards her, shocked. "You don't mean that, do you?"

Bonnie turned to look at him. "Let's not forget about Ace. He hates Ash, doesn't he?"

"Oh, I see," said Max, nodding. "I can bet Ace will be there to meet up with us."

"That's why I said I don't want to meet up with Ash," said Bonnie pointedly. "He's bound to make a scornful or a sarcastic remark."

There was a bit of silence as the two thought over her statement. After a while, Max shrugged. "There's nothing we can do about it. He can whine for all I care. All I want is to battle Ash. Now that both of us can use aura, I can't wait to test my strength."

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let's go now."

The two ran for a while before jumping and taking off into the air with their bodies surrounded by a light-blue glow. During the three years of training, the two hadn't only trained for aura. Their friend Ace had made sure to train them in their psychic powers as well. So now, they were psychics strong enough to not just levitate but fly in the sky for as long as they wanted.

"By the way, Bonnie, do you think Ace is going to be there?" asked Max as they flew over the forest near Laverre City.

"Knowing him, probably," replied Bonnie. "You know how he is – always popping out of nowhere. We're probably in for a shock when we finally manage to discover who he is. It'll probably be a test from his point of view."

"Yeah, probably," said Max slowly, turning back to look ahead. "Anyway, let's focus on reaching Lumiose for the time being."

The two had been travelling in Kalos after having travelled through Sinnoh and Max's native, Hoenn. While Bonnie hadn't been able to participate in contests while travelling through Sinnoh, Max had participated in both the leagues. He had been able to score a place in Top 16 in Sinnoh and Top 8 in Hoenn, and now he was working to at least reach up to Top 4 in Kalos League.

Bonnie, in the meantime, had studied quite a lot about contests and had been able to think of some interesting combinations that had helped her score a place in Top 8 in the Hoenn Grand Festival. Right now, she was focusing on the Showcases that were a speciality of Kalos, and had already gathered two princess keys.

Their friend, Ace, who had travelled with them through Sinnoh and half of Hoenn, had decided to leave this journey completely up to them for he had wanted to see how much they had grown in terms of their aura training – after all, he was the one who had trained them because he could see a lot of potential.

His training, while seriously exhausting, had affected the two quite a lot (in a good way), and because of that, they were so healthy and fit that they hadn't contacted any disease at all throughout their travels. Not only that, he had already taught them how to use their aura in the most effective way, which had been really helpful quite a lot of times. In short, Ace was the reason why they were so skilled with aura. And they intended to brag about it to Ash – that is, if they did manage to beat him.

Of course, they had no idea what kinds of things were going to happen at the league.

* * *

 **A short chapter but it was a kind of introduction filler... if that makes sense. Once again, after three years, all our heroes are going to meet up again at a same place. There are going to be strange secrets, dark pasts and even love rivalries with Ash in the middle of it. To prevent any confusion, here are all the characters' ages in this story:**

 **Ash, Serena, Clemont, May, Dawn, Gary, Iris: 20  
Max: 13 (looks like 16)  
Bonnie: 12 (looks like 15)  
Misty: 22  
Brock, Cilan: 23  
Ace (OC): 18**

 **About Max and Bonnie looking like they are in their mid-teens, it's been mentioned in the last chapter of Finding the hidden feelings. Ace is an important character in this fic. I won't spoil anymore so wait a little while for the next chapter where the real story starts.**


	2. Meeting Up Again

Chapter 2: Meeting Up Again

"Hey! Dawn! Brock!"

Dawn and Brock who had just met at the Lumiose Airport turned towards the source of the voice, and smiled at once.

"Iris!" Dawn exclaimed, hugging her friend. "It's been a long time."

Iris hugged her back while Brock waved at her. "Yes, it has been," replied Iris, smiling at the two.

"So, I guess, you are here for the Champions' League. Am I right?" asked Brock, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Yes, of course!" exclaimed Iris excitedly. "I can't wait to participate."

"Well, almost all of us are going to participate," said Dawn. "I managed to talk with everyone, except Ash, and they said they might."

"Oh yeah, by the way, Iris," said Brock, getting her attention. "Congratulations on beating Drayden. I heard you had a hard time against him."

"Oh, thanks a lot," said Iris, smiling at him. "I have still got a long way to go before I become a Dragon Master. I still need to defeat Lance who I heard is one of if not the strongest dragon-type trainer. That's exactly why I am participating. What about you guys?"

"Well, Ash always spoke about how he wanted to be a Pokémon Master and I have seen him win through all the obstacles, so I want to see how I fare against the toughest obstacle of his goal," said Dawn with a smile on her face. "You see, contests also have battles, and I sometimes lose because my Pokémon don't have that much endurance. So, this tournament will also be a kind of training for them."

"That's good to hear," said Iris. "Let's go to the Pokémon Centre first. We can check out the tournament venue later. I want to check out all the shops here first."

"Let's go. What are we waiting for?" Dawn said laughing, and ran after Iris. Brock sighed and followed them in a more composed manner.

The three soon reached their destination and booked their rooms. After freshening up, the three met in front of the Centre. The girls were about to leave for their shopping when Brock stopped them.

"How about we meet Clemont first? He's the gym leader here, right?" Brock suggested, pointing towards the Prism Tower that stood straight in all its glory.

The two girls exchanged glances and after a moment, nodded. "Let's go."

The three made their way to the tall tower and went in the gym only to be greeted by a closed metal sliding door with a monitor on the top. The monitor came to life just as they stopped in front of the door and asked them what they wanted. They introduced themselves and expressed their desire to meet the gym leader. At once, they were granted access and the doors slid open to reveal the battlefield with a robot at the other end of it. They were just about to ask it where the gym leader was when they heard the familiar voice of Clemont through the door behind it.

"Who is it, Clembot?" The voice said. "Didn't I tell you not to let anyone disturb me for a while?"

He appeared just as he finished speaking. When he saw the new arrivals, his eyes widened. "Iris? Dawn? Brock?"

"Hey Clemont," said Iris, grinning at the inventor's shocked face. "How've you been?"

Clemont shook his heads and smiled at them. "It's been long since I saw you guys in flesh. Do come in. Don't just stand there." He motioned towards the door he had come through. He turned towards Clembot. "And Clembot, close the gym for a while and join us."

The three followed Clemont in his room and stared at the sight. There were three computers on a desk on the opposite end of the room. Many wires were running here and there covering the floor. In the middle of the mess, there was a strange machine. There was a box like frame with the lower half filled with buttons and sockets and all kind of electrical equipment one could think of.

"Sorry about this," said Clemont, scratching the back of his head. "I have been working here for a while so…"

"Oh, that's fine," said Dawn, sweat-dropping. She looked around the room again. "You don't seem to have changed much, except maybe a bit taller."

"But you guys surely have changed quite a lot, except Brock," said Clemont, turning towards them. "Brock just looks the same to me."

Brock scratched his cheek. "Am I really all that same? Dawn said the same thing."

Dawn laughed while Iris shook her head in amusement.

"I guess you are all here for the Champions' League then, right?" asked Clemont, getting nods in response. "What about others? Are they going to come too?"

"Well, I talked with Misty and May and they agreed," said Dawn thoughtfully. "I don't know if they are going to participate but they did say they would come."

"Gary agreed as well," said Brock. "He said he would use this opportunity to research all the different pokémon that are bound to be there. I don't know about Cilan though."

"He'll be there when the tournament starts," said Iris. "I don't know when he'll come though. He sounded rather busy when I last called him."

Suddenly, the computer started beeping loudly. Clemont turned towards the monitor and after a brief glance, pressed a button. "Permit it," he said. Turning back to the group, he walked ahead. "Let's go."

The three exchanged glances, and then followed him.

"Where are we going?" asked Brock.

"To the helipad," replied Clemont.

They soon reached an elevator and entered it as Clemont pressed the topmost button on the panel. The elevator sped up the tower, and in a few seconds, opened up at the top. They walked out just as a helicopter landed, its rotors making a deafening noise.

The four watched as the door of the helicopter slid open, revealing the passengers.

"Hey guys, it's been a long time!"

"Ash! Serena!"

"Pika pika!"

"And Pikachu too!"

Ash and Dawn high-fived, and then Ash bumped fists with both Brock and Clemont with Pikachu joining in as well. Serena, in the meantime, hugged both Iris and Dawn and greeted them. A few minutes passed as they all greeted each other.

"Come on now. Let's go down," said Clemont. Just as they were about to go to the elevator, a familiar voice was heard, coming from afar.

"Hey! Clemont! Ash, Serena!"

"Look! Even Brock, Dawn and Iris are there! Hey there, guys!"

All of them turned towards the source of voices in shock. They could see two familiar faces, waving their hand at them.

"Isn't that…?" started Dawn, her eyes widening.

"Bonnie?!" Clemont exclaimed in shock. "And Max too?!"

"Are they… flying?" Iris asked slowly, as the two trainers flew over to them. They landed on the top of the tower and ran towards their friends. Bonnie tackled her brother so hard that the two fell over and Clemont hit his head on the floor.

"Hey there, everyone," said Max, greeting them with a grin. "I am glad we caught you on time."

"Hey big brother," said Bonnie with a huge smile on her face as she got up and helped Clemont up. "Already leaving before meeting your little sister?"

"Of course not," replied Clemont, dusting himself off. "I had no idea you would come over flying."

"Hmmm…I had no idea you could use aura to fly," muttered Ash, looking at Max.

Max gave him an odd look. "We weren't using aura."

"Well then, how were you flying?"

"With our psychic powers," replied Bonnie, turning towards Ash.

"Huh? But wait, weren't you training for aura?" asked Ash, not being able to understand what was going on.

Max sighed. "Don't worry about it. We'll tell you once we are rested enough. We flew all the way from Laverre City, you know."

"Alright, I guess," said Ash, deciding that it was a sound advice. Everyone quickly piled into the elevator and soon enough, reached Clemont's home.

"I had no idea you two had grown so much," said Serena, looking first at Bonnie, and then at Max. "You two almost look like you're in your mid-teens."

The two exchanged glances and then smiled. "Do we?"

"I can't believe how much you've grown," said Clemont. "It seems hard to believe that you used to be just over half my height. You are as tall as me now."

"What about others though?" asked Ash. "When are they going to arrive?"

"Gary and Misty should be here soon," replied Brock. "I don't know about Tracey though."

"Well, Delia and Professor Oak will come when the tournament starts," said Serena.

Before the conversation could continue, they were interrupted by a loud ring. Max pulled out his Holo Caster, and pressed the answer button. The Holo Caster projected his mother's hologram.

"Hey mom!" Max greeted her. He noticed her miserable demeanor at once. "What happened?"

"Oh Max, something terrible has happened," the woman started. "We just got a call from the Lumiose City Hospital."

"What had happened?" Max asked as the others crowded around him to listen to the conversation.

"They said that May was found unconscious in an alley, beaten so badly that she was half-dead," the woman said, crying. "They haven't yet done any tests but from the evidence they found on the scene, they say…"

The woman paused for a while and cried even harder. After managing to compose herself only a bit, she gave her son a teary-eyed look. "They say…she was raped."

"They say what?" Ash burst out in shock, wondering if he had heard right. But Caroline was too heartbroken to say anything else.

Norman, Max and May's father, suddenly appeared on the screen. He glanced briefly at his wife, and then turned towards Max. "Max, we're on our way there. Until then, go to May and try to talk to her. The doctors say that she hasn't told them anything except her name and address. We'll be there today by midnight."

The call was suddenly cut off. Everyone turned to look at each other. Max got up from his seat, followed by the others. "Let's go."

They got out of the Prism Tower and ran all the way to the Lumiose City Hospital. Max went in first, followed by the rest. Going to the reception desk, he asked for May Maple. The receptionist told them that she was in intensive care and no one was allowed to meet her. Nevertheless, she told them where the ICU was.

The group followed her directions and quickly reached the ICU. The doors were to the room were locked and they could see the doctor and nurses working on May. May had a ventilator attached to her mouth and there was a heartbeat monitor checking her heartbeats. It was quite obvious to them all that the doctors were patching her up; they could easily see all the injuries that were inflicted on her.

The girls looked ready to throw up at the sight, while the boys comforted them. Only Max had an unreadable expression on his face. He simply sat down on the seats near the door, his hair shadowing his eyes. Everyone gave him sympathetic glances but no one said a word.

After a while, the door opened and the doctor stepped out. He was surprised to see the crowd in front of the door. None of the crowd had noticed his arrival; apparently, they were really depressed. The doctor hated to give them the news he had brought, but it was necessary. He cleared his throat and attracted their attention.

"Are you acquaintances of…" he checked the paper pad he had in his hands, "May Maple?"

"Yes, we are," replied Max, before anyone else could speak up. "How is she?"

"Well, the news I have isn't particularly a bad news," the doctor started, "but it isn't good news either."

Everyone felt their hopes shattering. "What has happened?" Ash managed to ask.

The doctor was surprised to see such a famous celebrity in his hospital but he decided to comment about it later. "She was barely conscious when she was found," he started. "She just managed to speak out something that sounded like sorry, and then passed out. One of our nurses, who is a fan of Pokémon Contests, recognized her at once and we called her home."

"Ever since then, she hasn't woken up. Her condition is stable right now, so she should wake up soon. I don't know how soon though. We did run a few tests to make sure what we suspected was right or not and we found out that she was raped, and then beaten badly. Three ribs were broken and she had a fracture in both of her legs as well as one arm. The rest of her injuries are simple wounds and none of them are deep. But we have no idea about her mental condition. We won't be able to know about it until she wakes up, so until then, she should stay in the intensive care. We'll keep on monitoring her condition 24-by-7, so don't worry about it."

"How can we not worry about it?!" Ash burst out angrily at the doctor's last statement. The doctor was taken aback by the sudden outburst. "Do you even realize how close a friend she is to us? She's been with us…"

"I see. Thank you, doctor."

Everyone turned their shocked glances at Max, who had spoken. He had gone back to sitting at his seat, and had calmly said it.

"But Max…" Ash started.

"Stop it, Ash," Max interrupted calmly. "Yelling at the doctor isn't going to help the situation. He's trying to help us after all."

Taking his cue, the doctor left, while everyone else looked shocked at Max. "How can you say that so calmly? Don't you love your sister?"

At the last question, Max turned and gave Ash such a death glare that Ash shut up at once. "I love her; no doubt about it. But there's no need to waste my energy yelling at the doctor or trying to hasten him. It'll only serve as a mistake. I'd rather wait until she wakes up so that we can talk about it and help her get over it; she's bound to be traumatized."

They could clearly hear the emotion in his voice as he said the last sentence and realized that this was affecting him as much as it affected them. Ash looked down towards the ground, feeling ashamed of his outburst. "I'm sorry, Max, for yelling like that," he said in a low voice.

"Apologize to the doctor," Max stated, looking towards the door that separated him and his sister. "He was the one being yelled at."

There was silence for a while. It was broken only when a voice, familiar to Max and Bonnie, spoke. "How come you two are here?"

The two jerked their heads towards the source. "Ace!"

* * *

 **The atmosphere suddenly turned dark, didn't it? The real story starts from this point. May ended up getting raped and beaten badly. How exactly did it happen? When will May wake up? What's going to happen to her? How are others going to take this news? Find out in the next chapter.**


	3. A Legend

Chapter 3: A Legend

Ace looked at the assembled crowd in the passage. He recognized most of the faces but didn't let it show in his expression. Instead, he turned towards the two people he knew personally. "Introduce us, will you?"

Max and Bonnie took turns and quickly introduced the group to him. After the introductions, Ace nodded and sat down beside Max. "So, what's the deal? I didn't expect to see you here."

Bonnie jerked with her thumb towards the ICU door. "You know her, don't you?"

Briefly glancing at Bonnie, Ace got up and peeped in through one of the small circular windows in the door. After a moment, he turned back and nodded. "That's May, right?"

Max nodded. "She was raped and beaten badly," he said grimly. He told his friend what the doctor had said. The response he got was a whistle of surprise.

"Can't you do anything?" pleaded Bonnie. "Can you heal her?"

Ace looked thoughtful. He got up and once again, peeped in; this time, to check all the injuries the woman had. After a while, he sighed. "I will be able to heal her, but it might kill me. From the looks of it, she will need quite a lot of aura to heal. Unless you have an infinite source, I'd rather not risk it."

It was quite obvious from Max's face that he wasn't expecting that kind of answer. He sighed sadly. "Can't you risk your life for once?"

"I have no intention of risking my life for someone I haven't met," said Ace at once, giving him an annoyed look.

A hand suddenly shot out and caught Ace's collar. With quite a lot of force, the hand threw him into the wall behind him and held him there. "Don't you have even a shred of kindness in you?" Ash's furious voice echoed in the rather quiet passage. "Don't you think you should help your friend?"

"And who might you be to dictate my life?" asked Ace rhetorically. It was quite obvious from his voice that he wasn't pleased with the way he was treated.

"Calm down, Ash," said Serena, tapping her boyfriend lightly on the shoulder. Ash first looked at her and then back at Ace. Finally relenting, he let go of Ace, although that didn't stop him from glaring.

Ace simply dusted himself. "By the way, as an answer for your last question, I have my reasons."

"And just what are those reasons that keep you from helping him out?" Brock couldn't help but ask scornfully.

"I guess you are just waiting for the doctor to give you the green signal," stated Max expressionlessly.

Everyone stared at his stoic face. Ace snickered, and turned back to the others. "Apparently, this kid is more mature and understanding than you are. You should have figured it out more easily."

"What…?"

Ace sighed and glanced at his two apprentices. They shrugged their shoulders. Sighing again, he turned back. "Haven't you heard about all the casualties that happened because some trainers tried too hard to bring out their aura?"

"Oh yeah, it was in the news a month or so ago," said Dawn, recalling what she had seen. The news had censored all the brutal pictures they had captured. All they could see through the filter was the red color of blood. The news reporters reported about the carnage they had seen after each death, and their descriptions were so horrible that Dawn had almost thrown up by just hearing about it.

"The result of this was that the rest of the trainers who were eager to bring out their aura gave up and the common people are so uneasy about it that they have banned any aura guardian from entering any public place." Ace explained. He shrugged. "Of course, you guys, who are given special treatment, wouldn't know the fear of common men."

Serena raised an eyebrow while Ash narrowed his eyes. "Are you mocking us?"

"Take it the way you want," said Ace indifferently and sat down again. "Here Max."

He pulled out what looked like a chocolate and handed it over to Max and Bonnie. Eating it seemed to calm down their nerves.

"So what are you going to do until she wakes up?" asked Ace curiously.

"What can we do other than wait?" asked Bonnie.

"Well, you could at least talk, you know," replied Ace. "Silence will only make you think negatively."

"I guess so," said Max after a while. "It's not like we can do anything else."

"Except worry and cry," said Ace dryly. Bonnie sent him a dirty look although she knew that he was right. They _were_ worried, and if something else had happened to May, they probably would have cried.

There was silence for a while. No one knew what they wanted to talk about. Finally, Max asked a question. "Are you going to compete, Ace?"

"Yeah," replied Ace shortly. He didn't say anything and no one asked anything else.

"Um…" Ash broke the silence. "If you don't mind me asking, Ace, can I ask how you trained these two with their psychic powers?"

The mood was so gloomy that Ash couldn't bear it anymore, so he decided to start a conversation to get their minds off the situation for a while. His trick seemed to work for everyone looked curious for his answer.

Ace glanced at Max and Bonnie, who shook their heads in response. Their shaking heads made him sigh.

"Alright, do you know what exactly aura manipulation and psychic energies are?" asked Ace, glancing back at others. After a moment of thought, everyone shook their heads in negative.

Ace sighed. "I thought so. Well, aura is manipulation of energy of living things, and psychic energy is energy manipulation of non-living things. Basically. In ancient days, when humans first came into existence, they were bifurcated into two species – one which could manipulate aura and the other which was an expert in psychic energy."

Everyone seemed interested in how aura came to be in its present form, so they were giving undivided attention to Ace, momentarily forgetting the current situation. "For whatever reason, these two species started fighting to see which was better. A war broke out which lasted, if I am not wrong, around fifteen years – back then, all the humans had inhuman endurance which was why the war lasted as much as it did."

"The kids who were born during those days had seen things that children their age shouldn't have. The result was that they refused to follow their elders' footsteps. Child abuse wasn't uncommon during those days. If a child refused to do what his/her elder told him to, he was bound to be subjected to unending torture; it could be in any form – verbal, physical, emotional or whatever."

"Nevertheless, most of the children didn't change their decision for once. They became the reason the war ended – or it would have probably gone on till the extinction of our species."

"Hold on a second!" Iris interrupted. "Do you mean the children of both species?"

Ace nodded. "Anyway, once the last of the elders died, the children formed a truce among themselves. Having been through the same situations, they understood each other perfectly. After that, the generations that followed were not pure aura or psychic species – they were hybrids. All the generations up until the current one are hybrids. There are only a select few that never mixed with these hybrids. One of them is the Ketchum bloodline."

Everyone at once turned towards Ash, who had a surprised expression on his face. "Does that mean…?" he started.

"Ketchums always remained a pure aura species," stated Ace. "They believed themselves to be the chosen ones that Arceus himself had sent to earth to maintain its peace."

Silence pervaded the passage as everyone let the information seep in their minds. "So what happened next?" Brock asked.

"Since they had formed a truce, no one thought it necessary to train the younger generation in their aura or psychic powers. The result was they lost their endurance and their powers became dormant. They are still in our genes but it takes quite a lot of time to train them – only for hybrids."

"What do you mean?" asked Dawn, raising any eyebrow.

"The pure ones still retain their talent," explained Ace. "That should explain why Ash managed to train his aura to such a high level in so short a time."

"So you mean to say all of us are hybrids?" asked Serena, indicating with her hands to everyone present.

"Yeah, with a little guidance," replied Ace.

"There you are guys!"

Everyone turned to see Clemont standing at the end of the passage, panting loudly. He ran up to them and collapsed right at Ace's feet.

"What happened?" asked Ash at once. "And where were you? I thought you were with us."

"Let him breathe for goodness' sake," muttered Ace as he helped the inventor in the chair beside Bonnie.

After catching his breath, Clemont replied. "I had gone to the police station to find out what had happened. I managed to convince Officer Jenny to show me the CCTV footage. It's dark and unclear but it's quite obvious that May _was_ raped. She was probably drugged or something since she was dragged there. As soon as they reached there, she started squirming and trying to get out. In response, those guys beat her just about enough so she would stop squirming, which was when she was almost half-dead, and… well, did the deed."

The girls looked horrified as Clemont revealed what he had seen. Clemont knew that the others needed to know this so he continued. "The last guy was about to start when a blue sphere – probably an aura sphere – cam flying out of nowhere and passed cleanly through two of those beasts, killing them on the spot. The other guys were about to run when a glowing blue staff – it looked like a bone rush – came flying and hit the first two people in their heads and bounced off right into an old gas cylinder that was lying there. The impact made the cylinder explode, engulfing the whole alley in flames."

Even the boys this time seemed to be having a hard time listening to this. Clemont, having seen the whole thing on the footage of the CCTV, was struggling to get the whole story out. Max looked horrorstruck, wondering how his sister even managed to survive.

"But somehow, miraculously, she remained safe from the burns," Clemont continued slowly. "Then, this guy appeared with a Lucario by his side and stared at May – she was naked at that point. Whatever little clothes that were left on her body had been burnt by the explosion. May still seemed to be moving a bit but there wasn't really an obvious response. This guy seemed to say something and then he quickly covered her with his clothes, picked her up and placed her right outside the dark alley. After that, he called the police and the ambulance there, and before they could arrive, left."

Everyone exchanged horrified glances, except Ace, who seemed rather indifferent about the whole situation. They wondered how this could have happened. How could their friend, who had never done anything wrong to anyone, have to go through this?

"So what happened later?" asked Max shakily. Apparently, he was having a really hard time holding his emotions at this point.

"The police arrived," replied Clemont. "The remaining scumbags had already died due to the burns inflicted on them. The guy, who had stopped all of this, had already disappeared and there was nothing the police could use to trace him back except the clothes he had used to cover May. They have already found out that the clothes were brand new and had been purchased just that morning."

The girls looked ready to throw up and the boys weren't faring any better. All of them felt their blood boil just at the thought of the condition May was in. Max felt especially heartbroken. If he was in this condition, the others had to wonder what would happen when Norman and Caroline, May's parents, arrive there.

The ICU door suddenly opened and a nurse walked briskly out of the room and into the passage. She soon reappeared with the same doctor in tow. The two entered the ICU and quickly went up to May. The others peered in through the small window to see what was happening. They couldn't see much but one thing was obvious: the doctor wanted to check on May's condition.

After ten minutes, the doctor came out. Everyone turned to look at him and waited for him to speak. "Only three people are allowed to see her at a time. Make sure not to excite her. Her mental condition isn't stable. And she should stay away from guys as much as she can. She's so traumatized she didn't allow anyone except the nurses to check on her. Only her family members should go first."

He gave a few last instructions and left. As soon as he left, Max got up, followed by Serena and Ash. They were just about to enter when Max stopped Ash. He beckoned Ace over and whispered something in his ear. After listening, Ace nodded and he went in along with Serena and Max. The others exchanged glances and waited for their chance.

As soon as they went in, the first thing they saw was how vulnerable May looked. Even with all the people around her, it was quite obvious that she felt far from secure. It was to be expected.

Max went up to her and slowly held her hand. "May, how do you feel?" he asked softly.

May slowly opened her eyes and saw that it was her brother. She opened her mouth to reply but stopped when she saw the other two people with him. As soon as her eyes landed on Ace, she started shaking. Her eyes widened and her heartbeat started increasing rapidly. The beeps from the machine indicated it clearly.

"What happened? MAY!" Max yelled, bringing his ear to hear what his sister had to say.

"It's him," she whispered fearfully in his ear. "He's one of those who raped me!"

* * *

 **Things look really bad for Ace now. He had said he hadn't met May personally until now, and now here's May saying that he was one of those beasts who raped her. So what's actually going on here? Find out in the next chapter.**


	4. Doubts

Chapter 4: Doubts

"What?!" Neither Max nor Serena could believe what they were hearing. Ace had a surprised expression on his face. He couldn't believe it either. The nurses shooed them all away to keep May from getting excited anymore.

"What happened?" asked Ash immediately, noticing the pale face of his girlfriend as soon as they walked out. Ace didn't seem surprised anymore. Max's hair shadowed his face.

"She saw him," said Serena shakily, pointing at Ace. "And she said he was one of those… those beasts."

Even before the shock could register on the listeners' faces, there was a sudden explosion that covered them all in smoke. Ace was thrown out of the smoke and he skidded a few feet before coming to a stop.

"How dare you?" Max's voice was clearly heard in the silent lobby. "HOW DARE YOU?!"

"What the…" Ace got up and held his nose where he had been hit. Seeing that his nose was broken and bleeding, he looked towards Max, who had a vicious glint in his eyes.

"I knew you weren't a good guy but I had no idea you would stoop so low," Max spat out fiercely. "You rape my sister and you dare to show your face here?!"

There was complete silence as everyone looked in shock at the furious boy. They had no idea just how much he loved his sister. For a while, nobody moved. Then, as everyone snapped out of their stupors, they turned to look at Ace – some glaring, the others uncertain.

Ace silently got up and observed the situation. He first looked at the boy, then at the others and then, back at the boy. After a few seconds of observation, he sighed. "Just what makes you think I am the rapist?"

The girls gasped audibly at how audaciously he asked the question. They even felt unnerved at how calm he looked. Bonnie thought differently though. She could see a few muscles in Ace's arm twitching, and knew that he was keeping himself from lashing out. She didn't know what to think of the whole situation.

On one hand, she knew that Ace wasn't a good guy in general. They had been through some incidents that had cropped up thanks to his 'borrowing' items. They had always somehow managed to save their skins during those times. On the other hand, it didn't seem to make sense that Ace would _rape_ a girl. It just didn't seem plausible. Sure, he did some things that would be a taboo for the society but he had certainly never disrespected anyone's privacy. Quite a lot of girls had shown interest in him – many of them were beautiful. If Ace had wanted, he would have been in a relationship by now. As it was, he wasn't interested in one until he was well over twenty-one.

Right now, Bonnie felt that judging Ace solely over what May had said would be unfair against him. She knew a few cases when the eye-witnesses had seen things in a wrong way which contradicted with the facts that they would later find while helping them. She decided to investigate this matter on her own since Max would be too blinded by his emotions to help her while the others didn't know that much about Ace.

"You dare to ask that question?" Bonnie's thoughts were interrupted at Max's angry reply.

Ace shook his head in exasperation. "Why don't you just answer my question?"

"Well, why do you think May reacted that badly as soon as she saw you?" Max snapped back.

"I wouldn't put it past her," said Ace indifferently. "She was beaten badly enough for her to hallucinate and imagine weird things." He turned around. "Oh well, it's not like I care. Just don't forget that I'm innocent until proven guilty."

Max charged up and fired another aura sphere at his back. Just when it looked like it was about to hit, Ace's hand suddenly shot out and absorbed that aura sphere. He looked back and gave an infuriating smile. "Don't force me to retaliate, or you will regret it."

With those final words, he left the hospital. As soon as he left, Max felt weak in the knees and sat down suddenly. His friends turned towards him worriedly. "Why?" He mumbled to himself. "Why did May have to go through all of this?"

"Calm down, Max and don't worry. We're all here," said Ash, trying to comfort his friend. Silence once again filled the whole area, only broken by the muffled beeps that they could still hear coming from the intensive care. A minute or two later, snores filled the area. Apparently, all the stress and fatigue had caught up with Max, putting him to sleep.

Everyone exchanged glances and nodded. Carefully lifting Max, they laid him on the seats and they themselves stood aside. After a moment of silence, there was a sigh.

"Bonnie." Bonnie turned towards Ash who had said her name. Ash looked at her and pointed down the aisle. "What's up with that guy?"

It was then that Bonnie realized that even she herself didn't know that much about Ace. And she had travelled around a year and a half with him and Max! It was amazing how neither she nor Max felt the need to ask him about his private and family life. She sighed to herself and decided to tell her friends whatever little she knew about him. She motioned to them to sit as she sat down herself.

"I will tell you what _I_ know about him," she started. "There's not really much to say, because he's quite secretive. In other words, we don't know much about him."

"How come you don't?" asked Iris, raising an eyebrow. "You have travelled quite a lot with him, haven't you?"

"Well, we can't really force him to tell us about himself, right?" asked Bonnie, glancing at her.

"I guess you do have a point," said Iris after a while. Everyone turned back to Bonnie, waiting for her to speak. Taking her cue, Bonnie started.

"So, we met Ace when we had just started travelling, back in Sinnoh," she said. "When we were exploring the Orebrugh Mines, one of the tunnels suddenly caved in and he fell down through the roof. At the time, we had no idea how he fell through, but we soon found out: he and his pokémon Infernape were fighting each other above that tunnel and the ground had broken due to the continuous impacts. It was unbelievable then, but now that we have been training, it's not so unbelievable anymore."

"Well, I still find it hard to believe," muttered Ash. It was obvious that he was still angry over what had happened. Bonnie heard him and sighed to herself.

"Anyway, from what I have observed, there are a few things I think you should know," she continued. "First of all, _don't_ ask him about his family life; you'll probably be putting your life on the line by asking questions. He absolutely loathes those kinds of questions."

"Any particular reason why?" asked Serena, raising an eyebrow.

Bonnie shrugged. "I don't know, but it seems he had a rather hard childhood. If you _do_ ask him, you will simply feel a blade held to your throat; not to mention, he won't hold back even if they are girls."

"Sounds rather harsh," Brock commented.

"Don't I know it!" Bonnie said, rolling her eyes. "I had to _physically_ apologize to him for asking."

"What do you mean 'physically'?" asked Clemont, narrowing his eyes. He didn't want anything bad to happen to his sister, especially after what had happened with May.

Bonnie realized her choice of words at once and cursed herself. "Physically in the sense that I had to follow his order – only one, but it could be anything. The one time I asked him about his siblings, I had to cook lunch and dinner every day for that week." Before anyone could comment about how harsh it was, she continued. "Not that it was bad. After all, it helped me develop my culinary skills."

There was a bit of silence as everyone noted that fact in their minds – never ask Ace anything about his private life.

"Alright, what next?" asked Dawn.

"He hates what he calls 'emotional crap'," said Bonnie with a small nod. "You know how Ash can say things to comfort his friends when they are facing a problem, right? Something like, 'I am right by your side' or 'You can always depend on me', after a long speech. It usually is when you speak from your heart – Ace hates that."

"That's just stupid!" exclaimed Serena at once. "Shouldn't you let people speak their minds if they want to? Who does he think he is to stop them from doing so?"

"I think you didn't get the point clearly, Serena," said Bonnie, glancing at her friend. She paused for a while, thinking about something. Then, she spoke. "Remember when you slid down that cliff when we were travelling through Kalos? You and Ash had fallen down and Ash had sprained his ankle."

"Oh, I remember that very well," said Serena, nodding with a small smile. "Ash had said that nothing we ever learn is a waste of time. We talked about various things…"

"That's it," Bonnie interrupted, getting her attention. "'Nothing we ever learn is a waste of time' – that's what Ash said, right? Ace would never ever bother himself with those things. He expects you to know about it. Unlike Ash, he doesn't care about others' feelings."

"This sucks," said Iris bluntly. "He needs to learn it."

She got unanimous nods, agreeing with her statement. "What else?"

There was a pause as Bonnie thought about what else she could tell her friends to beware of. After a while, she spoke. "There isn't anything else you should be really careful of. Just don't ask him stupid or obvious questions; you will just get a sarcastic reply. And don't pick a fight with him; he won't let go even a single chance to embarrass you."

"It's too late for the last one though," Ash pointed out. "Max already did."

"I guess," said Bonnie, shrugging her shoulders. "You can't really think straight if someone close to you has to go through something like that."

The statement brought them back to reality. They looked down towards the ground, sad and furious about what had happened – and that too, just before the once-in-a-decade league. May must have been really excited to participate and now this happened.

"One last thing," said Bonnie, getting everyone's attention. She narrowed her eyes. "Don't, and I mean, _absolutely_ _don't_ pick a physical fight with him. You will really regret it. He won't hesitate to kill you."

The conviction with which she said this made the others realize that this wasn't a joke at all. If it was true, then Ace would really kill them.

Bonnie suddenly got up and started walking down the aisle. Her action made the others turn towards her in surprise.

"Where are you going off to?" Clemont called after her.

Bonnie turned towards him with a small smile on her face. "I have got some work to do."

"Are you seriously going to leave May like that?" asked Ash, surprised at Bonnie's answer.

"Well, you all are here, so I don't need to be here at the moment," replied Bonnie, shrugging. "Besides, the work I have is finding out who the criminals were. With Ace in the mix, I'd rather not include the police; he might get charged of murder."

Clemont got up as well, as soon as he heard her answer. "Well then, I am coming with you."

"Why?" asked Bonnie curiously. She couldn't think of a reason why her brother would need to be with her.

"After what happened to May, I am not going to let you go anywhere alone," said Clemont with conviction.

Bonnie turned back ahead and sighed. "Even in bathroom?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course not!" Clemont exclaimed, shocked that his sister would even think of saying that kind of thing.

"Then don't come along. I'd rather go there alone," said Bonnie, looking back at her brother.

"But didn't you just say…?"

"Did I say I was going _now_?" Bonnie shot back with a question.

"Well…"

There was a silence as Clemont tried to formulate a response. The silence was broken when Bonnie suddenly chuckled.

"What…?" Clemont looked at his sister in surprise. What was going on here?

"What I said and did just now was a demonstration," replied Bonnie, still chuckling. "I just wanted to show you how Ace will treat a situation, just so you can figure out how to deal with it."

Bonnie chuckled still louder at the shocked faces. She turned her back towards them and waved. "I will see you later."

She disappeared down the aisle, leaving shocked faces behind. Everyone exchanged glances.

"So what do you make of it?" asked Brock, not knowing what to speak.

Clemont looked thoughtful. "She did give us a demonstration of how Ace would behave in such situations."

"Oh, by the way, Clemont, shouldn't you be going with Bonnie later?" asked Iris. "She did say she'd go to find the criminals of you-know-what."

"Oh right, I have to leave then," said Clemont. "I hope I am not burdening you by leaving."

He was about to leave when Ash's voice stopped him. "Don't go."

Everyone turned towards Ash who stared at the ground. He looked up at Clemont as Clemont turned to face him. "I have a feeling Bonnie doesn't want anyone of us tagging along with her. I could feel it in her aura."

His statement hung in the air for a while before the silence that had saturated the atmosphere was broken by Clemont. "I don't care. It's my duty as her older brother to protect her."

Ash looked back at the ground while others glanced between him and Clemont, wondering how the conversation was going to go. The silence, however, was interrupted by a commotion near the corner of the passage. Everyone turned to see two familiar – now tear-strained – faces of Norman and Caroline, May's and Max's parents.

Just as everyone looked up, the two parents came running to them. Caroline had been crying for quite a long while – it was obvious from her red eyes and her tear-strained face. Norman had been faring better but after glancing inside the ICU, even he let out a few tears. Max, too, woke up due to the commotion, and after seeing his parents, tried to comfort them. It was a heart-breaking scene to anyone who would watch them.

The others exchanged glances and agreed wordlessly among themselves to leave the family alone for a while, and got up from their seats.

Meanwhile, outside the hospital, Bonnie was walking towards the police station, with a dozen of questions occupying her mind. She and Max were the only people who knew Ace the best.

 _Why would Ace rape May?_ She thought. _He didn't know her personally; that's for sure. If Ace wasn't the one, why did May react that badly as soon as she saw him? Did Ace lose control of himself? But that can't happen; he has perfect control over his desires. And who exactly were those guys who had actually done the deed? If Ace wasn't included, how come May thought otherwise? If Ace was included, why would a rapist show his face to his victim? Wouldn't he simply leave the city or even the region itself? Why would he come all the way to the hospital? To traumatize his victim further? But wouldn't the police catch him? And what's more: those beasts must have known what flight May would arrive through and which route she was going to take. Ace has the least interest in women, so stalking May and finding her schedule was out of the question. But still, the way May reacted at his sight makes the whole thing complex. It's already been over an year since the last time we saw Ace. Could he have changed this drastically in that time? But it sounds completely absurd._

She sighed. _Something's off about this whole deal. I'll have to find out about the whole incident. Or May might remain traumatized for the rest of her life._

* * *

 **Sorry about the late update, guys. I have been down with a fever since the last few days and was advised to rest and do nothing. This chapter might just not meet your expectations, so sorry about that. The tournament will start in the next chapter, so stay tuned until then.**


	5. Tournament Preliminaries

**Um... well... sorry about the extremely late update but I was on writer's block for quite some time, and then got caught up in real life. I hope this chapter makes up for it.**

* * *

Chapter 5: Tournament Preliminaries

All of them, except Clemont, spent the night at the hospital. They were allowed to stay after visiting hours mostly due to Ash's influence. Clemont, worried for his sister, had gone on a fruitless search and later on, slept a restless sleep at the Pokémon Centre. He hadn't been able to find Bonnie even after searching for all possible places she could have gone, and after well past midnight, had given up on the search. He promised to himself to continue searching for his sister in the morning.

In the meantime, Bonnie had gone to the police station and used her connection with Ash to get her hands on the 'evidence' that Officer Jenny had found at the place. She quickly took a few photographs with her Holo Caster and returned the evidence back to the officer, thanking her for her help. With those photos in her bag and recalling the exact place that the incident had happened, she quickly made her way there, hoping to figure out what had exactly happened.

The address that Officer Jenny had given her led her to a dark alley in the more secluded outskirts of Lumiose City. Checking the area, she found out that she was behind the Lumiose Airport, in the hidden slum area. Feeling the bad vibes that the broken-down huts and empty alleys gave out, she shuddered a bit, realizing that this was the worst place a person could be in. The small streets and alleys were completely empty and seemed to be devoid of any presence. One could be murdered here and no one would find out until it was too late.

She slowly started walking down different alleys. Barring the occasional sight of kids playing or grown-ups going about their chores, most of the streets were empty. Soon enough, she came across the alley which Officer Jenny had told her about. Noticing the rundown surroundings, she wondered how someone from the slums could afford to install a security camera here. It didn't seem plausible. She looked around a bit and soon noticed the security camera, hidden right under the roof of one of the huts that were there in that alley. Straining her eyes a bit – since it was quite past midnight – she also saw the yellow-colored tapes that the police had used to mark the place as off-limits.

Making sure to stay in the dark, she quickly crossed the tapes and started checking the whole area, using aura vision to keep herself from straining her eyes too much. She couldn't find anything other than what the police had found; she could even see the burst cylinder that had inflicted burns on May.

Disappointed, she decided to head back further into the dark alley, making sure to stay out of sight of the security camera since she felt suspicious about their presence. Her decision proved to be useful for she soon heard a low murmur coming from one of the huts. A dim light – probably from a candle – shone through one of its windows. Bonnie went up to it and silently peered through it. The sight inside almost made her yell in shock but she just managed to stop herself in time.

 _What's Ace doing inside?_ She thought, and started listening to the conversation inside.

"Are you sure we'll get the money?" She heard Ace saying; though, for some reason, his voice sounded different.

Just as he said that, Bonnie heard footsteps nearing the hut and soon enough, the door of the ramshackle hut creaked open. There was a series of shuffles as the three people already inside the hut got up. The aura from the newcomer felt so evil that Bonnie shuddered involuntarily. Apparently, whatever thoughts the newcomer had in his mind weren't pure at all.

"Alright, you did a good job," one of the other three said; Bonnie assumed it to be the newcomer. "Here's the deal."

She could easily hear the sound of briefcases being snapped open, and realized that the whole thing that had happened with May had already been planned quite in advance. There were snickers as the briefcases were snapped shut. Bonnie listened in carefully.

There was another series of shuffles; apparently, everyone had sat down again. Bonnie could still sense the aura of the newcomer, so she assumed that he was still there. There was silence for a while before any of them spoke.

"I think this is the best deal," one of the voices spoke. His statement was greeted by snickers.

"I can easily get you your money and drugs," said the newcomer. There was a pause followed by another snicker. "And some wild nights as well."

There was a short period of laughter at the statement, while Bonnie felt disgusted. It was extremely obvious to her that these were the guys that had raped May and the newcomer had wanted that to happen for whatever wicked reasons he had.

"Do you think you can do this again?" Another voice spoke.

"Who do you want?" came the question. There was a short pause.

"One of the famous one probably," spoke the first voice. "Maybe Dawn, that model with her Buneary from Sinnoh?"

The statement shocked Bonnie and she felt her blood boil as the people inside talked carelessly.

"How about Serena?" suggested Ace – or the one who looked like him; Bonnie couldn't be sure. "Wouldn't I love to have fun with that gorgeous hot body? She doesn't deserve the dense hotshot that her boyfriend is."

That was the last straw. Bonnie was about to shoot an aura sphere when the newcomer spoke. She decided to listen before shooting them. The conversation might give her some information after all.

"How do you think I will be able to get my hands at her?" asked the newcomer. "First: her boyfriend isn't just an ordinary hotshot. He's the champion of three regions. Second: even if he isn't there, she's bound to be surrounded by bodyguards. And third: I heard she's been learning to use aura from her boyfriend."

"Do the same you did with the 'Princess' of Hoenn," the third voice spoke. "You can use aura as well, can't you? Just kill them."

Hearing the last couple of statements, Bonnie at once made the aura sphere she had in her hand disappear and quickly lowered the presence that her aura gave off. _It will be difficult dealing with them, if this guy is efficient with his aura._ She thought, going over the situation. _I daresay he is, if he killed May's bodyguards as easily as they make it sound._

"By the way, why do you even want them raped?" Bonnie directed her attention to the conversation again. "Any personal motive or something?"

There was silence for a while. Then the same voice spoke again, this time with a bit of fear. "Alright, alright, I won't ask. It's fun fucking them and seeing them all submissive."

"Good," the newcomer spoke. "You don't need to know my motives."

With that, there was another shuffle and Bonnie heard the door creaking again. Apparently, the newcomer had left. Right after that, the light that was showing through the hut's window disappeared. Not making any noise, Bonnie quickly retraced her steps and left the dark alley behind. Checking the time on her Holo Caster, she noticed it was already past two-thirty.

 _That was insane,_ she thought as she left the secluded part of the city and made her way towards the Prism Tower. _What the heck's going on?_

She decided to think about this later, since there was too much on her mind to let her think clearly. Besides, she remembered that the next day – or that day, since it was already past midnight – the preliminary rounds for the tournament started, to choose the best 128 players out of the thousands that were participating. She, for a fact, knew that the preliminaries of the Champions' League were the toughest preliminaries and that they had different criteria every decade to let the best trainers pass through. She wondered what the criteria would be this time.

Just as she reached the usually crowded main street that went straight to the Prism Tower, her body suddenly felt heavy like lead. The change was so sudden that Bonnie didn't even get the chance to fight back the weight. She simply sprawled down on the ground face down without a warning. The next minute, she was suddenly turned so that her back was on the ground although the crushing force hadn't let up at all. It made her believe that whoever was doing this was either a strong psychic or had a strong psychic pokémon like Medicham with him.

She tried to move her hand and at once, felt the force on her increase, so much so that the street beneath her started cracking. She still managed to open her eyes a bit, and saw a dark figure approaching her noiselessly. She would have probably tried to fight back, but had realized that the pokémon would ruthlessly keep on increasing the force on her if she kept on squirming. So, she decided to see what happened and didn't make a move. The figure approached her and when he was close enough, the faraway light from the main street dimly lit his face, shocking Bonnie to the core. It was Ace!

Ace bent down and stared at her – first at her face and then at her body. "It's a pity you decided to eavesdrop on us," he said, narrowing his eyes and Bonnie realized from his voice at once that he was the one from the hut. Ace, then, bent down and slowly poked at her breast. Thanks to her twice-as-fast metabolism, even though she was just about twelve, she actually looked like she was sixteen – which meant, puberty. She had already undergone puberty and her breasts had developed quite a lot which could be easily seen even in the dim light.

Bonnie felt disgusted but she couldn't even express it. It was painful to move even a single muscle, thanks to the force she felt on her body. When she didn't retaliate, Ace started groping her – first, he slowly massaged her breasts, and then pressed them suddenly, making her whimper. He, then, pinched and pulled at her nipples through her clothes, as she started tearing up, feeling frustrated.

He suddenly stopped and glanced sadly at her. "For someone who's just in their teenage years, you have developed really well," he said. Then he suddenly smirked. "Maybe, I can put you to some good use."

He pulled out a syringe from his pocket and quickly injected some drug through her left arm. Almost immediately, Bonnie felt her vision getting cloudy and her head heavy. Immediately after, the force that was holding her back disappeared. Taking advantage of that, she suddenly kicked right in Ace's face, taking him and his pokémon – if there was one – by surprise. Her vision was cloudy, but she could still use aura and sense her enemy. She sensed him towards her right and shot a compressed aura sphere at him. The aura sphere zoomed right through Ace's stomach like a bullet and then exploded as it touched the wall behind.

While Ace had fallen down, Bonnie used aura to stop the blood flow in her left arm so that the drug wouldn't spread throughout her body. Soon enough, she felt better and her vision returned to normal, but she knew she was far from safe. Stopping the blood flow was just a temporary measure and she knew that. She stared at the fallen form of Ace and quickly checked his aura signature. That cleared her doubts.

This guy wasn't Ace. It was his doppelganger!

 _That explains why May reacted the way she did,_ she thought as she quickly ran towards the Pokémon Centre. Her hand ached a bit but she soon reached the Centre. Nurse Joy looked up in surprise as she entered; apparently, she had a late night job for something. Whatever the reason, Bonnie felt thankful. She quickly asked the nurse for a blood test to see what was injected into her, deciding to leave out the details for the time being. She hoped that the results arrived soon, since her fast metabolism rate would give her only half the normal time to prevent the drug from spreading throughout her body.

The nurse seemed surprised but didn't question her and quickly disappeared in the lab behind the reception desk, apparently sensing the urgency in Bonnie's voice. Half an hour later, she came back with a serious expression.

"What kind of drug was that?" she asked Bonnie.

"I don't know," replied Bonnie truthfully. "It was injected in me."

After a pause, Nurse Joy spoke again. "What happened when you were injected with it?"

"My head felt heavy and my vision got cloudy," said Bonnie. "It's been only about half an hour since it was injected, so I don't know about its long-term effects."

"I see," muttered the nurse thoughtfully. "Why don't you rest for now? It is a new drug, so I don't have any information on it. It will take some time before we can make an antidote."

Bonnie clicked her tongue in annoyance. She should have figured that out from the conversation she had heard earlier. "Alright, I will rest. I hope you can make an antidote quickly."

Nurse Joy nodded and handed Bonnie a key. "Don't hesitate to call me if you need anything."

Bonnie nodded and turned around… only to bump into Ace. She prepared herself just in case it was the doppelganger, and narrowed her eyes at him.

Ace stared at her for a moment, and then spoke. "What?"

Bonnie felt relieved at once. This was the real guy. His voice as well as his aura signature was familiar.

"What are you doing so late?" asked Ace, getting her attention.

"Can you help me, Ace?" she asked at once. "I will explain everything in my room."

Sighing to himself, Ace followed her as she made her way to the room that Nurse Joy had allotted to her. Once inside, she handed the copy of the report that Nurse Joy had given her and started telling him what she had been doing after he had left the hospital. It took her barely ten minutes to finish.

Ace looked at her when she finished and pulled out some berries from his bag. He crushed and mixed them and then, filtered out the juice from it. After that, he took some of the muddy brown colored juice in a syringe and injected it right at the point where the drug was injected.

"Let your blood flow now," he said, throwing away the syringe and the rest of the juice. "You will feel well by morning. You might feel queasy for a while though."

"How do you know this will work?" asked Bonnie, as she lied down.

"I am pretty sure I had come across this drug at least once; not sure when," he replied, taking his bag. "After a bit of trial and error, I found out the antidote. You see, people usually don't eat berries, thinking that they are for pokémon. But many of these berries have quite a lot of healing properties that can actually work for humans if taken in just the right amounts. I did just that."

"I see," mumbled Bonnie, starting to feel sleepy. "Are you going to stay?"

"Nope," replied Ace, at once. "I have no intention of seeing your friends' faces first thing in the morning."

"They are staying here?"

"Your brother is. You are better off not telling him what happened. As far as my twin is concerned, I will deal with him later."

And just as suddenly as he had appeared, Ace left the Centre and vanished in the dark night.

Hours later, Bonnie woke up to the sound of a commotion. She quickly got up from her bed and glanced outside her room to see some more familiar faces. There were Misty, Tracey, and even some of the Hoenn Gym Leaders: all of them surrounding her brother, Clemont. Judging from their expressions, it was easy to tell that all of them had heard about May. Clemont looked quite frustrated as well.

"So, you still haven't found her yet?" Bonnie heard Misty saying. She wondered who she was talking about. It only took her a few moments to realize that they were talking about her.

"Yeah," replied Clemont. "And now even Dawn's gone missing."

Bonnie was about to get their attention when she suddenly felt nauseous. She rushed back into her room and hurried into the bathroom, almost throwing up on her way there. A minute later, she came out of the bathroom, feeling better. She stepped out of the room only to see the hallway empty. Apparently, her brother and the rest had already left the Centre to find her and Dawn.

 _I wonder what happened to Dawn,_ she thought to herself as she approached the reception desk. _Had those guys already made a move?_

Nurse Joy looked up as she handed the keys to her room. Her expression turned to serious as she took the keys and asked Bonnie how she felt. Bonnie replied that she felt fine and that she was thankful to her.

"Before you leave," the nurse started, getting her attention, "you better go to the police station. This is a serious crime. And it would be best if you come here the moment you feel strange."

Bonnie nodded wordlessly and left the Pokémon Centre, her mind running a mile a minute. She wanted to figure out what was going on in her city. As far as she remembered, she didn't know about the slum area behind the Lumiose Airport until yesterday when she had gone there to check the area. She shuddered as she recalled what had happened.

 _I guess training my aura turned out to be really useful after all. It's a good thing I and Max decided to listen to Ace. Now that this has happened, I have to be more alert._ She frowned to herself. _I wonder who was behind that ridiculous pressure that had me pinned down to the ground. It felt as if the gravity had suddenly increased 500 times. And it didn't feel like a Pokémon who was doing it. Was it that guy?_

Before her thoughts consumed her, she decided to first find her brother and tell him that she was safe. Afterwards, she decided that if they had time, she would help them find Dawn – although she already had an idea where she could have gone. It was already past eight-thirty; she had just about an hour before the preliminaries started. She had no idea if Max or Ace were going to participate but she hoped that at least Max did – it was doubtful, though, if that would happen. She hadn't seen Max since she had left the hospital but she doubted that he would be able to think of anything else other than his sister's wellbeing.

Deciding to think about this later, she started scanning the surrounding area using her aura to try and find her brother. It took about ten minutes before she managed to pinpoint her brother's aura in the crowd. She quickly ran towards Clemont, dodging throngs of people that were walking towards the huge stadium, built near the Prism Tower.

Clemont got the shock of his life when Bonnie suddenly crashed into him while trying to dodge another group of trainers that were occupying the footpath. Both of them fell onto the ground with Bonnie on top of Clemont, her head crashing into his nose and sending his glasses flying. Both of them got up slowly, rubbing the places where they were hurt. Clemont picked up his glasses and wore them, ready to scold the culprit. But instead of that, as soon as he saw the person, he hugged her.

Neither of them spoke a word for a while. Then Clemont separated and asked, sounding quite relieved, "Where had you gone, Bonnie? Do you realize how worried I was?"

Seeing that her brother was really relieved on seeing her, Bonnie decided not to tell him what she had been doing. She said, "Well, I was too tired to come back to the hospital and since I came across the Pokémon Centre on the way, I decided to stay the night there."

What she told him wasn't technically a lie but it wasn't the complete truth either. Clemont, though, seemed too relieved at seeing her to even question her answer. Instead, he got up and hugged her again, before separating and telling her what had happened at the hospital after she had left.

"Since you didn't come back," he started, "I decided to try and find you. We tried calling your Holo Caster, but you were out of range. Dawn and Brock decided to help out too and came along with me, while Ash and Serena decided to wait at the hospital with the Maple family. We separated and decided to meet up a couple of hours later. But Dawn didn't come at the specified time. We tried calling her but she too was out of range. We have been trying to find her but haven't found even a single clue yet."

Not wanting to tell her brother the worst-case scenario, she said, "But it is possible that her Holo Caster might have broken somewhere along the road."

"Even if that's true," interrupted Clemont before she could say anything more, "she should have returned by _now_. She still hasn't contacted any of us yet. And we have been combing the streets yesterday well past midnight."

That statement made Bonnie decide to tell her brother about the slum area that she had seen yesterday. She told him about what she had seen and heard but left out the part when she had to deal with Ace's twin, fearing what her brother might do to the _real_ Ace. From their whole group, she, Max, Ash, and to a certain extent, Serena were the only ones who knew how to use aura. Out of the four, Serena was still learning, so she wouldn't know how to check someone's aura signature. That would leave an overwhelming majority against Ace.

And she knew Ace well enough to know that he wouldn't hold back at all if he felt that they weren't willing to listen – even if it meant their death. There had been times during their journey when she and Max had had to interfere and stop Ace before he dealt the final blow. Thankfully, Ace always listened to them, but she, for a fact, knew that he wouldn't bother listening if things got too out of hand.

Clemont stared at her as if she had gone mad. "Why didn't you say so? Do you realize how important that information could be?"

Bonnie didn't know how to answer that question. Fortunately for her, Clemont's Holo Caster rang at that moment and saved her from any trouble. Clemont picked up the call and Misty's hologram was projected from the device.

The first thing she asked was: Where did you find Bonnie? Are you okay, Bonnie?

Bonnie simply nodded, while Clemont readjusted his glasses. "Did you find anything about Dawn?"

Misty shook her head. "We are still heading towards the forest area just beyond the airport though. There are still some parts there that we haven't searched yet."

Just as she said that, Flannery, one of the Hoenn Gym Leaders, appeared in the hologram. "Did you find anything, Clemont?"

"Yeah, I found Bonnie," replied Clemont. "Still no clue about Dawn, though."

"Don't go any further than the airport," interrupted Bonnie in a cautionary tone. "Not until we are there too."

All three of the trainers looked curiously at her. "Is something wrong, Bonnie?"

"Well, I have heard rumors that many… 'bad' things happen there," replied Bonnie slowly, emphasizing the word 'bad'. The tone in which she said that was enough to tell Misty as well as Flannery to take the warning seriously. Why or where Bonnie had heard the rumors, they had no idea, but they decided to be safe than sorry.

"How long will it take for you to catch up to us?" asked Flannery.

"About a second," answered Bonnie at once. The three adults gave her incredulous looks.

Bonnie put a hand on her brother's shoulder and the two suddenly disappeared in a flash of light. The next second, they were standing right beside Misty and Flannery. All three adults looked shocked.

"You know how to teleport, Bonnie?" asked Misty, the shock clear in her voice.

"Well yeah," replied Bonnie, shrugging her shoulders. "It's no big deal."

None of the three knew what to say at that. After a moment of awkward silence, Clemont said, "Well, let's search the rest of the area before it's too late. We won't be able to search later because of the preliminaries."

The other three nodded and they started towards the airport. Bonnie remembered the street they were on since she had run towards the Pokémon Centre from there. It was still a bit unnerving to her to go through there again but it was necessary. It was quite possible for Dawn to have gone through here without knowing the danger the hidden slum area presented. Even she had found about it just that day.

 _It was strange how there wasn't a single mention of the area in the news or the internet. How could it have just appeared there? There is no way it could have escaped notice._ Bonnie thought, as she walked beside her brother. _I think I need to check this out._

Half an hour later, they were still searching for Dawn near the airport but still hadn't found a single clue. Searching for her in every street and alley was a tiring task but they all intended to leave no stone unturned. Bonnie finally looked at the time and noticed it was past nine-fifteen. She looked around and saw the other three, ahead of her, giving brief glances to every alley. She wondered what to do.

 _It would take quite some time before we even reach that slum area if we continue like this,_ thought Bonnie. _Should I just go ahead and check out that area again?_

She pondered a bit and then decided to not go since she knew it would take quite some time to explore the area. There was not a chance that those guys would meet up at the same place if they knew that she knew the place – not to mention that strange presence of the security camera. She decided to explore later after she was done with her preliminaries. Just as she decided to call her brother, he, along with Misty and Flannery, joined her.

"Did you find anything?" he was asking. All he got was a shake of their heads.

Clemont sighed. "What are we supposed to do? None of the gym leaders are going to be free until we are done with the preliminaries – and that would be until almost six in the evening."

"Well, I will be free," said Bonnie at once. "And I don't know if Max is going to participate or not, but he will probably be free as well. We will start searching until you guys are done with the prelims."

"That would be great," said Misty, feeling a bit better now that all that time wasn't going to get wasted.

"Should we get going now?" asked Flannery. "The prelims are just about to start. We'll be able to just make it in time."

Clemont and Misty nodded. "Let's get going."

They started running and, much to Bonnie's surprise, Clemont didn't have a hard time keeping up with them. In fact, it seemed like he could probably go faster. Clemont noticed her staring at him. He turned towards her and asked if anything was wrong.

Bonnie chuckled a bit. "I can't believe your stamina has increased so much. It almost feels like you're not my brother anymore."

…

"Weren't you the one who always complained I didn't have enough stamina?" asked Clemont, staring at her.

"I know I did," laughed Bonnie. "But I didn't expect to you to improve this much in just three years."

"Three years is a long time, Bonnie," said Clemont as he turned to look ahead. Just as he said that, his Holo Caster started ringing.

All of them stopped and gathered as Clemont picked up the call. It was Ash. He looked a bit reassured. Serena wasn't with him.

"What happened, Ash?" asked Misty.

"Dawn was just found outside the hospital, unconscious," said Ash. "No one knows who left her there or what had happened with her; her arms and clothes were covered with blood but she looked otherwise unhurt. She's in the ER right now. The doctors are checking on her."

All of them gave a thankful sigh. "What are you going to do now?"

"I will wait here to hear what the doctors have to say," replied Ash. "Afterwards, I will come to the stadium with Serena. You guys better go there right now. I will tell you what happens when we meet."

With that, the call was disconnected. "Well, that's good to hear."

"We should ask Dawn later about what happened," said Misty as the three started walking. Bonnie didn't move from her place. She was thinking about her suspicions, and was starting to wonder who was saving their asses all the time.

 _First May, and then Dawn,_ thought Bonnie as she now started following behind the other three. _Both of them were saved. Who could it be? Ash didn't know about any of this until it was too late, so there's no way he could have gone. It couldn't be any of us – who know Ash – either for the same reason. Besides, I don't even know if it's the same guy. It could be two different guys who coincidentally ended up catching the culprits red-handed. But it seems too much to be a coincidence. How can these – or this – guys end up at the right place and at the right time? Then again, who could have known this was going to happen?_

"Bonnie! Come fast! Aren't you going to take part in the league?"

Clemont's voice interrupted her thought process. She decided to think about this later and instead, focus on the prelims for the moment. She quickly ran the rest of the way and the four soon reached the stadium which was already filled with trainers, coordinators and performers alike. This being the toughest league, everyone wanted to participate: if not to win, then to gain experience.

The four stood in the large hall where multiple screens showed the birds'-eye view of the stadium. It was nine-thirty by the time they reached the stadium, so they had been almost on time.

Clemont, Misty and Flannery rushed to one of the hallways on the left side of the hall, leaving Bonnie alone. Bonnie didn't bother asking why; she already knew because Clemont had told her that the gym leaders were in a separate hall from the participants. Not knowing what to do, she decided to go to the reception to ask when the prelims were going to start.

Just as she started walking, a commotion started. She turned towards the door where everyone was staring, already knowing who could be coming.

Ash appeared at the door with Serena right behind him. The two made their way straight ahead and disappeared into the hallway, leaving everyone staring after them.

"Aren't they just the cutest couple?" One of the girls near Bonnie spoke. They seemed to be in their late teens. "I want to talk to them and ask for their autographs."

The girls with her seemed to agree. Bonnie thought that the girl who had spoken looked familiar, but she couldn't quite place her. She didn't dwell on it though, for her attention was diverted when she noticed Max walking through the door with the rest. The gym leaders left to go for the preparation of prelims, leaving Max, Brock, Iris, Cilan, Tracey, Gary, Paul, Professor Oak and Delia. None of them looked happy; their faces were expressionless.

They noticed Bonnie standing near the reception desk and ran at once towards her, asking her if she was fine. Bonnie replied in the affirmative but didn't explain what she had been doing. Instead, she asked, "Are May and Dawn fine?"

"Dawn's fine, albeit a bit shaken," replied Brock. "The doctors have advised her to rest for a bit; apparently, they are going to observe her before giving the green signal."

"And May's regained consciousness," added Iris. "But the doctors didn't let us see her, just in case she gets excited again. She must be in quite a fragile state of mind."

Bonnie simply nodded, deciding not to say anything. She turned to Max, who hadn't spoken a word. "Are you going to take part?"

Max looked at her but didn't say anything for a while. Then, he spoke, "I don't know." He sighed. "I am still worried about May. She didn't seem to remember that she had seen Ace. If anything, she looked confused – as if she had no idea what had happened."

"That's good," said Bonnie, seeing that Max seemed to get out of his depression. "That way, she wouldn't get excited for the time being."

"Well, I guess you're right," said Max. "I hope her wounds heal up soon."

Just as he finished speaking, there was an announcement telling all the participants to head out to the stadium. Since they had already registered, they went out to the stadium. The first thing they saw as soon as they walked out on the battlefield, were six banners, stuck to the walls of the stadium each with the name of a region.

"Everyone," the announcer spoke, "please go and stand near the banner that has the name of your region on it."

 _So the prelims are a region-wise deal this year, huh?_ thought Bonnie, as she made her way towards the Kalos side. Everyone else had gone towards their respective regions so she was alone in the Kalos region. None of the gym leaders were present, so Bonnie assumed that the challenge must somehow involve them.

Once the whole crowd of trainers was divided, the announcer continued, "This time, it's marathon!"

 _What a crappy idea…_ Bonnie couldn't help thinking. _How in the world are they going to make this prelim tough? There doesn't seem to be much one could do in a marathon._

"But this isn't an ordinary marathon," the announcer said, as if hearing Bonnie's thoughts. "This is a survival marathon."

Murmurs arose from the participants as well as spectators. What did they mean by a survival marathon? Even Bonnie got curious about this.

"As you can see, everyone has been divided into the respective regions they hail from," continued the announcer. "Every region will be directed towards their starting point. There, you will be shown a map with checkpoints. You and your pokémon will pair up with each other. There will be checkpoints where you are supposed to leave a mark as a way of showing that you had been there – you will see how the mark is supposed to be left when you get to the first checkpoint. You can follow any route and go through the checkpoints in any order as long as you pass through them all. There will be obstacles as well as wild pokémon. You cannot use aura and you are strictly restricted from using flying-types to keep this a fair match. Anyone breaking these rules will be disqualified immediately. Lastly, the battlefield: it will be the whole forest surrounding the city, and the finish line: it will be the Prism Tower in the centre of the city. The top 128 trainers with the shortest time overall will be qualified to participate in the league. And the person who wins the league will be awarded a hundred million pokédollars, a legendary pokémon as well as the chance to try and beat the current Pokémon Master."

The last statement was greeted by such deafening cheers, Bonnie was sure that the newly-made stadium would crumble.

 _That sounds brutal,_ thought Bonnie as she prepared herself mentally for the marathon. _There are no rules besides those so I guess I can assume no one is going to think twice about hurting someone, now that money is involved._ She took a deep breath and exhaled it. _Well then, let's see what happens next._

Unknown to her, she was being observed quietly by two people – a girl and Ace's twin. She had no idea that she was heading right into a trap.

* * *

 **So, what do you think about this chapter? I don't know when I will update again since I have my end-semester exams soon, but I will finish this story for sure.**


	6. A Day-Long Survival Marathon

Chapter 6: A Day-Long Survival Marathon

Bonnie watched as the first group, the Kanto region, was directed out of the stadium. Recalling how hastily all the gym leaders had gone backstage – if that was what she could call it – she wondered if the gym leaders were going to be included in the marathon. The only plausible place where they could be stationed where all the trainers would be able to cross them would be the checkpoints.

Bonnie shook her head suddenly to clear her thoughts. There was no need to analyze the situation just yet. Besides, she needed to focus on the map. From what had been said, she could see that they weren't going to be given any maps. The preliminaries weren't just about memory, but it seemed like quite a lot of things were going to be checked to select the best 128 trainers out of the whole crowd. Since this was a survival marathon, she could say that they would probably have at least half a day to complete the whole track. She had no idea, though, where the starting points were going to be for it to actually be a 'marathon'.

Kalos region's turn soon came and they were quickly directed outside the stadium. Once outside, they were told to go straight to the forest, from where they were led through an almost faded path right to the opposite end of the forest in the desert. It had taken them almost an hour and a half of walking through thick bushes to reach there. Bonnie recalled that the desert was where she, along with Ash, Serena and Clemont, had dealt with Team Rocket for messing up with the electric power plant. The thought made her wonder what had happened with those three.

"Is everyone from Kalos here?" A loud voice broke through her thoughts. She turned towards one of the league officials who had spoken. Everyone chorused 'Yes!'. The official nodded and turned towards another to talk about something. After a while, a hologram appeared over their heads with the map of Lumiose City and the surrounding forest and desert. Soon after, eight dots appeared randomly throughout the forests at different distances from the Prism Tower, which was the center of the map.

The official started explaining. "These dots are the checkpoints where you're supposed to go and mark your arrival. But only four of them are the real ones. The other four are fakes. There will be a gym leader in _every one_ of them with four of them with fake checkpoints. The fake checkpoints will be in _fake greenhouses_. You're supposed to identify the real from the fake ones and choose to mark your arrival accordingly. If you choose the wrong checkpoint to mark, you will have to start from the last one that you had marked correctly. The only thing you're supposed to do is choose the right ones to stop at while avoiding your opponent's attempts to slow you down. The time limit is six hours and it's ten-thirty a.m. right now. Your time starts… now!"

As soon as he shouted 'now', everyone started running madly towards the first dot. Bonnie didn't. She was staring at the map thoughtfully, along with a few others who hadn't yet started either. She observed every point and its approximate location from her current place. She observed the pattern in which they seemed to spread out. Once she was done observing, she started running. By the time she did, the forest was already silent – as if the previous mad rush hadn't happened at all.

"Dedenne, are you awake?" She asked as she entered the forest. Dedenne popped out of her bag and yawned. He had been sleeping in the bag for quite some time and was now ready to take on any challenge. He quickly climbed up and sat on her head to get a better view of his surroundings.

Bonnie had thought that taking the direct, straight route might be easier, but she was wrong. As soon as she entered, the thick bushes and closely-spaced trees prevented her from going towards the first checkpoint directly. Instead of taking a different route or trying to dodge the trees, she decided to use them to her advantage.

She quickly climbed up a nearby tree and then started towards the direction of the first checkpoint. She started jumping from branch to branch and even swung once in a while – like Iris – and started catching up to the others. Since she was up in the trees, not many could see her there but she had an excellent view of the whole forest from above. From her position, she could easily see the whole crowd that had madly rushed in right at the start – but now it was dispersed. Apparently, many had lost their sense of direction and were already lost. She was glad she decided to wait and memorize the map for a while.

After around jumping ahead for a quarter of an hour, she stopped and climbed up higher to get a better view of the forest ahead. From the top of the tree she was in, she saw the roof of the first greenhouse.

 _Alright! First checkpoint!_ She thought to herself gleefully as she climbed down and started again. Although the joy was short-lived as she remembered what the official had said. _It could be fake. Chances are less because it is just the first checkpoint but I still need to check it out. I wonder, though. How in the world am I supposed to know if it is real or fake? Will there be a hint inside the greenhouse? And besides, why would they even have checkpoints inside the greenhouses? Checkpoints aren't alive, are they?_

And that was when it clicked. Bonnie understood at once how she was going to distinguish real from fake. It was just a hunch right now, but she would soon find out if her reasoning was right or not.

Soon enough, Bonnie reached the first checkpoint. There was quite a crowd waiting in line to get in. Instead of getting in line, Bonnie walked to the doorway and peered in.

"Get in the line, miss," one of the trainers said gruffly as he went inside. The others seemed to get angry at her for skipping the queue and readied their pokéballs.

"I only want to peer in," replied Bonnie. She could easily see Viola inside and one trainer beside her – probably marking his attendance. She glanced around and saw Viola's pokémon playing around. After looking around a bit more, she noticed some hanging crescents.

 _Is that Metapod?_ She thought to herself. She got her answer when the crescents twitched and one of them opened its eyes. Chuckling quietly to herself, she went back into the forest, much to the others' surprise, and when she was out of their sight, climbed into the trees again. She quickly jumped her way to the greenhouse and this time, went around the clearing to the opposite side of the entrance.

There, she noticed, were two exits, separated by a clump of trees and thick bushes. Trainers were coming out of only one exit. The other exit hadn't been opened even once. All the trainers that were coming out of the first exit, after running for some distance, were coming across league officials who stood there looking at the door. It was obvious to Bonnie now that this wasn't only a fake checkpoint, but there were hidden doorways too. The hidden ones were obviously the ones from where she could continue.

 _Apparently, the fake checkpoints have hidden exits too._ She thought to herself as she jumped and reached the path that extended from the unopened door. _It seems like it has occurred to no one that the first checkpoint could be a fake too. And this checkpoint has also half-proved my hunch. The next real checkpoint will prove completely if my hunch is right or not._

Now that the path was clear for her, she started running as fast as she could. Another half an hour passed before she could see the next checkpoint. She would have reached earlier if it wasn't for trainers who seemed to randomly pop out of nowhere. Half the time had been wasted in battles but she was making good time. She noticed Grant inside the greenhouse and after observing for a while, went in and marked. She was one of the first trainers to come there, she noticed.

Grant wished her luck as she started walking towards the exit. She waved and was about to open the door when she stopped, recalling the hidden exit at the first checkpoint. It made her wonder if there was a hidden one in the real checkpoints as well. After a while of thinking, she turned towards Grant and asked, "Where is the real exit, Grant?"

Grant smiled. "You're perceptive, Bonnie. But I can't tell you. We've been told not to say anything."

Bonnie sighed. "Alright. Thanks anyway."

She decided to do what she did at the first checkpoint. As soon as she stepped outside, she climbed up a nearby tree and surveyed the area around her. There wasn't any hidden path this time. Smiling a bit to herself, she climbed down and started running ahead.

 _My hunch was right_. She thought to herself. _The fake checkpoints for our region have pokémon from other regions as well, while the real checkpoints have only Kalos pokémon. It's a subtle difference but it isn't impossible to notice it. And only the fake ones have two exits._

With that in mind, she quickened her pace. As she ran through the forest, she wondered what the official meant when he had said 'obstacles as well as wild pokémon'. She felt like there would be some hurdles to cross as well, other than escaping wild pokémon – but what kind of, she had no idea.

Just as the thought crossed her mind, she came across a deep and wide gorge. She peeked down and saw that there was a safety net halfway to the bottom. There wasn't a bridge to cross it – instead, it was a tightrope. For a moment, Bonnie looked at the rope blankly with only one question in her mind – was she really supposed to cross it?

Recalling the map she had studied earlier, if she had followed it right, the next checkpoint should be on the other side of the chasm. Just as she was wondering if she had taken a wrong turn somewhere, another trainer appeared from the forest – it was the girl from earlier who had called Ash and Serena a cute couple. Bonnie suddenly felt the sense of familiarity that she had felt earlier when she had noticed the girl, but she still couldn't recall where she could have seen her.

She decided to ponder on it later, now that she knew she was on the right track. She quickly turned towards the chasm and after taking a deep breath and calming her nerves, put her right foot on the rope. Her training with Ace and Max was certainly coming in handy, as she started ahead on the rope fast enough for the girl behind her to gape at her. The rope kept on swinging in the blowing breeze but Bonnie was able to not lose her balance. It only took her a few minutes to cross it and she breathed a sigh of relief as soon as she reached the solid ground.

She looked back and saw that the girl who had arrived after her was starting to cross. After reaching halfway through, she suddenly lost her balance owing to the breeze and hung precariously with only her hands supporting her. For a moment, Bonnie felt like extending a helping hand for the girl but stopped herself in time. This was a competition, so she couldn't help her opponents. Instead, she chose to just watch from her position and decided to intervene if something, that shouldn't happen, happened.

As the girl put a foot above the rope and pulled herself up, more and more trainers started appearing out of the forest. Half the trainers stared at the chasm disbelievingly while the other half seemed to think a way out of the situation. As the girl almost reached her side of the ravine, Bonnie peered down again. She could see that the safety net was inclined towards one side of the ravine and there was a hole there. A league official was staring up at her.

 _So falling down there disqualifies us too, huh?_ Bonnie thought to herself as she decided to get going. _That means there are going to be some more special cases where stepping outside the track means disqualified._

It was almost noon by the time Bonnie reached the third checkpoint. After making sure it was the real one, she marked her presence and continued ahead. She hadn't come across many trainers throughout her route so far, making her realize just how vast the forest was. But she hadn't come across many wild pokémon either, so she was making good time. She finally decided to eat something after making through a particularly closely-packed trees and bushes. She took a couple of berries and after handing one to Dedenne who had gone back to sleep in his bag, bit into one.

It was strange how she hadn't encountered a single trainer from other regions. The only trainers she had found were from Kalos and she had left them far behind already. It felt like the marathon wasn't all that hard after all. If anything, it felt like an endurance test. That was when she finally realized what the marathon was all about. It was to test their endurance. If that was true, then there probably would be some kind of test as soon as they finally reach the Prism Tower.

 _Which means they are probably going to see how we work when strained too much,_ realized Bonnie. _A lot of trainers make mistakes and end up endangering their pokémon when put under stress. They are probably going to test if we can adapt to similar situations easily or not. Plus it would also explain why checkpoints were included in the marathon. They're there to probably just wear us out – in simple words, an endurance test._

She sighed in annoyance, and wondered if her hunch was true. It certainly seemed plausible, but she probably wouldn't know the truth until she was done with all the checkpoints. Deciding to forget about it, she brought her attention back to the path she had been following for a while. She ate some berries that she had kept in her backpack and after she was done, climbed a nearby tree and continued like she had been doing in the morning. By the time she reached the fourth checkpoint – which was a fake one, she soon found out – it was already past one-thirty. The time limit was six hours, so she had a little less than three hours to continue for the rest of the way.

As she trudged ahead, she regretted not choosing a larger pokémon as her partner. It would have been easier if she had, for she could have rested for a while, while her pokémon carried her ahead. But there was nothing she could do about it now, because she had already told the officials that her partner was Dedenne – who obviously could not carry her.

During the whole time since the beginning of the marathon, she had come across various wild pokémon but many of them just scuttled out of her way while the others didn't even seem to notice her. It worked for her either way because it avoided wastage of time. Time was of essence here since the top 128 players to be chosen were to be chosen overall from all the regions. She could assume that the marathon started at the same time for everyone since they had been waiting at the starting line for quite a long time, so it meant it would be her fault if she couldn't make the cut.

Soon enough, she saw the fifth checkpoint. She checked the time and noted it was just past two. That should be enough to get through all the remaining checkpoints, provided there wasn't an insanely difficult challenge somewhere along the way. She quickly checked and noted that it was the real checkpoint, and went in, mildly surprised to see her brother there.

"Well, Bonnie, you're the third trainer so far to have reached here," said Clemont, smiling a bit.

Bonnie raised an eyebrow at him. "Aren't you supposed to not say anything?"

"Well, yeah, but I have been instructed different," replied Clemont, as Bonnie marked her presence. "Anyway, if you do want to get into the tournament, you better hurry. As far as I know, about thirteen trainers have already completed the marathon, and eight of them have been eliminated."

"Eliminated?" asked Bonnie curiously. "Then is there a final test kind of thing after this marathon?"

Clemont shook his head and smiled. "Now, that's something I can't answer. But if you do want to participate, you better hurry."

Just as he said that, another trainer appeared in the greenhouse. Bonnie glanced at him briefly and then, nodding at his brother, left.

 _This means my hunch is right,_ she thought as she quickened her pace. _There's going to be a final test to check our adaptability. I wonder who the five people are who have already completed the marathon. The marathon isn't hard certainly, but it should take quite a lot of time to find all the checkpoints and go through them._

She also figured that she must have slowed down considerably, for slowly but surely, a lot of trainers were starting to catch up to her. There shouldn't be too many trainers remaining, she thought, but there was still a chance that she could be one of the last trainers to actually make it to the top 128. She decided to not slow down for the rest of the way and soon enough crossed the last real checkpoint – which was the sixth checkpoint overall.

Now that she had marked the four checkpoints, she decided to take a direct shortcut towards the city. She recalled the map well enough, and she had been keeping tabs on where she was heading. So she knew where exactly Lumiose City was from her position. Not only would that give her a head-start but she would also be able to conserve her strength enough to take on whatever challenge lied at the end of the marathon. With that thought in mind, she veered off the path, unknowingly heading towards danger.

* * *

In the meantime, Max, who was in the Hoenn group, didn't seem to have had a particularly hard time. He was done with all the checkpoints but it hadn't occurred to him to take a shortcut. Interestingly, if he had taken a shortcut right after his last checkpoint, he would have bumped into Bonnie after a while, who would have been just about to take _her_ shortcut. As it was, he simply ran ahead, not bothering to think about anything else but completing the marathon.

He, too, had figured out by that time that there would be some kind of final test after the marathon when his father had told him about the eliminations. He hadn't spent more than a couple of minutes there but he could easily feel his father's uneasiness even after the doctor had told him that May would be moved to another room by the evening and that she would be fine but only traumatized. Even he himself wanted to spend time with her but there was no point in worrying about her continuously. She needed some rest – the doctor had said so – and so, if he had stayed there, there would have been nothing for him to do. This marathon had helped him forget about the whole situation – even if for a little while – and he was glad about that. It had also cleared his muddled thoughts about the situation; so now, he could actually work on finding what had happened with his sister.

He shook his head again to keep his thoughts from wandering. As he turned a corner, a sudden movement to his right caught his eye. He noticed a fleeting shadow disappearing into the forest. He noted the time and saw it was almost three in the afternoon. Seeing that he still had time and not many trainers had crossed him, Max decided to take a short detour and plunged into the forest in the direction of the shadow. There was no real need to go after whoever the person was, but Max had felt an evil intention from the shadow's aura so he decided to investigate. He certainly didn't want anyone to go through the same thing that his sister had to.

He could feel the shadow's aura as he ran ahead while dodging the overhanging branches and avoiding the thick bushes. It soon became apparent that whoever he was chasing was fleet-footed, for no matter how fast Max seemed to go, the aura's presence didn't seem to get stronger. In fact, he felt its presence reduce as time went on.

 _That guy sure is fast,_ thought Max, as he ducked under another branch and sidestepped around a bush. _I wonder why he's in such a hurry, not to mention that malevolence I felt in his aura. It makes me even more curious._

He looked at his wristwatch again, and saw that it was just past three. He had been chasing the fleet-footed figure for around ten minutes now. Another few minutes passed before Max felt the aura's presence increasing. After running for some more distance, he finally slowed down. Soon enough, he came across a small part where the trees weren't closely spaced, and gaped at the sight.

Right there, in the middle was Bonnie – and she was surrounded by three people, out of which one was…

 _Ace?!_ Max almost shouted out loud. Thankfully, he bit his tongue at the last second and stopped himself from uttering even a word. _What the fuck is going on here?_

Bonnie looked perfectly fine, except for the look of disgust on her face. Max noticed it and wondered if Ace _really_ was the one who had done it all. When his mind had cleared a bit, he had had the lingering thought in his mind that Ace might not have been the guilty party but now, he doubted it. If Bonnie, who was a bit more level-headed than he was, looked at him with such disgust, then he decided it must have been true. It was apparent to Max that they had just met each other, considering the looks on everyone's faces.

"It must be quite daunting for you to come across Ace right after you escaped," one of the guys, other than Ace, stated, a menacing sneer on his face. Bonnie didn't reply.

Ace gave such an uncharacteristic snicker that Max shuddered involuntarily. He didn't know if this was the Ace he knew but if any one of them made a move and dared to attack Bonnie, he would certainly step in. While he knew that Bonnie could and would easily take care of them, he couldn't bear the thought of any girl having to go through the same things that May had to. Even if it was to just vent out his frustration, he would step in.

"You bitch," said Ace, giving her a vile grin. "You made a fool out of me back then. Make sure you are ready to pay for it."

Bonnie narrowed her eyes at him while Max noted the difference in the voice pitch of Ace. He had been feeling that something wasn't right and this seemed to confirm it.

"You took me by surprise back then," said Bonnie coolly. "And I don't feel scared just because you think you will be able to molest me."

Max almost gasped out loud in shock. He had no idea Bonnie had already encountered these guys, not to mention that they had tried to molest her.

"Direct, eh?" The third guy spoke, getting his attention. "I love that. It'll be even more satisfying to see you begging for mercy when we fuck you."

Max felt his blood boil, as did Bonnie. Neither of them let it show outwardly, especially Max who was hiding in the bushes. He had no intention of giving away his hiding place since he had the element of surprise on his side, and fully intended to use it if any of the three made their move.

"You'll never get to see that," said Bonnie, readying herself. Just as she readied herself, she felt the same force that she had felt that day. The ground beneath her cracked at once and she fell down on her elbows and knees, just keeping herself from getting squashed. Max was watching this and for quite some time, could only stare blankly, wondering what had happened to Bonnie.

Bonnie was the only one, though, who could sense that the force on her right now was different from the one she had felt that day earlier. It just wasn't as strong as the one earlier – as if it didn't have enough willpower to hold her down. She could move, though not easily as she would have liked to.

Everyone, except Max, gaped at her as she slowly but surely, got to her feet. Max grinned to himself at her resistance. He knew her better than anyone since they had exchanged blows quite a lot of time to test each other's strength as a part of their training. Opponents like these wouldn't be able to break her spirit even if they wanted to. He decided to keep on watching for a while and decided to step in if things got too dangerous.

Once Bonnie stood up straight, she turned towards Ace, who actually had a look of slight fear on his face – once again, uncharacteristic of him – and gave a small grin. With that grin, she disappeared into a flash of light and appeared right behind Ace, taking those three by surprise. She gave a quick but sharp karate chop at the base of his neck, knocking him out instantly.

While she did that, the man nearer to her clenched his fist and aimed a punch at her. Bonnie felt it – rather, she felt the concentrated aura in the punch – and ducked under it letting it pass harmlessly over her head. She, then, did the same as the man had – concentrated her aura in her fist and punched hard in the man's gut.

The move took the man by surprise as all the wind got knocked out of him. Taking advantage, Bonnie spun around and then, with a roundhouse kick to his head, knocked the man out immediately. The third man watched this all with increasing fear and then jumped when Bonnie cracked her knuckles and turned towards him. Instead of running away, like Bonnie had expected him to, he clenched his fists and readied himself to fight her.

Deciding that this was pointless, Bonnie disappeared again in a flash of light and karate-chopped the man at the base of his neck from behind, knocking him out. Looking at the unconscious forms in front of her, she sighed and scratched her head, wondering if she was disqualified from the tournament. She decided to think about this later and checked the time on her Holo Caster. It was quarter to four – she had forty-five minutes to finish the marathon _and_ to make sure she wasn't disqualified. Sighing to herself again, she turned to continue ahead.

In the meantime, Max, who had seen the whole incident, had already circled ahead to the direction Bonnie was heading towards. It took little effort on his part to figure out what Bonnie had been doing there in the first place so he knew where exactly he would have to wait. He was quite right for he soon saw Bonnie running towards him.

Bonnie slowed down at his sight. "What are you doing here, Max?"

Max signaled her to continue running as he started. Bonnie caught up to him. "I saw what happened there," said Max, jerking with his thumb towards where they had come from. "Why didn't you tell anyone?"

Bonnie sweat-dropped, not knowing what to reply. After a while, she spoke. "Well, I intended to talk about it in the morning but I forgot after I heard what happened to Dawn."

"Well, don't forget again," said Max shortly. "I don't want to see anything happen to a girl again like it happened with May."

Bonnie glanced at him for a moment and then returned her attention back to where they were headed. Half an hour passed before the forest finally thinned out and brought them back to a path. Looking ahead, they could see a few trainers running towards the Lumiose City, which was visible from there. Nodding at each other, the two started running after the trainers they had seen.

"By the way, Max," said Bonnie, getting his attention. "Don't tell anyone until I say so. A few things have been bothering me, and I want to discuss them with you later."

Max gave her a surprised glance, and after a while of thinking, nodded. "Fine, but you better talk about the incident later."

"Alright, thanks," said Bonnie with a slight smile.

Soon enough, they reached the outskirts of Lumiose, where all the trainers who had completed the marathon were gathered. All of them were running towards the Prism Tower, after taking a leaflet from one of the officials who were stationed at the city entrance.

The two did the same and slowed down for a bit to snatch the leaflets. They quickly read the leaflets and then started ahead. Apparently, the instructions given in the leaflets were something that the officials had forgotten to tell them – strangely, Max thought. The last bit of the marathon was to run through the city, however they wanted. However, along some paths, gym leaders were stationed to try and slow them down. Those who would be able to avoid fighting them would have a better chance of getting into the actual tournament.

 _So, the last lap was dependent on trainers' luck, basically._ Bonnie thought, as they entered the city along with other trainers. _Hmmm… not completely though…_

She turned towards Max who was already looking at her with a knowing smirk. Bonnie returned his smirk, knowing that Max had figured it out as well. She nodded once and got a nod back. As soon as they reached the next intersection of roads, the two split into different directions and entered the buildings at the corners of the intersection.

It didn't take them long to climb up to the rooftop and once there, they started with one of their favorite training routines – parkour. Both of them knew that this was the best way to have a better chance to get into the top 128. With parkour, they would completely avoid running into the gym leaders so they wouldn't be wasting time trying to sidestep one. The only problem would be flying-type gym leaders but they already had an idea of how to deal with them. With that, they started jumping from building to building, not losing their overall speed much.

 _This must be what Clemont must have meant,_ thought Bonnie, as she jumped down to the roof of a shorter building. _Both, you and your pokémon have to be conscious when battling the gym leaders. If the gym leader defeats your pokémon, you are disqualified. Seems a bit unfair to me, but it shows that the trainer and their pokémon fail in the endurance test. Also, it isn't just an endurance test; this is also a kind of reasoning test. We, trainers, have to know when to let our pokémon rest so that they would have a better chance of staying conscious in front of the gym leaders' pokémon. In other words, if any of the trainers had their pokémon run all the way through the marathon – all the while carrying them – then they were pretty much disqualified at this stage._

About five minutes were remaining since the beginning of the marathon, when both of them finally reached the Prism Tower. They could easily see the desks kept there with league officials doing all the paperwork and registering the trainers who had completed the preliminaries. There was a huge display on all four sides of the tall tower, showing the number of trainers that had already gotten a place in the top 128. Currently, the number was at 112.

The two standing on the top of the buildings on the opposite sides of the main street looked at each other, and then jumped down to the ground, drawing shouts of shock and surprise from the crowd who was standing around the Prism Tower, held back by chains and police officers. Not bothering to look anywhere else, the two reached the desk in front of them, and quickly registered their names.

"Max finishes at number 113, closely followed by Bonnie at number 114." A loudspeaker blared over the shouts of the audience. The two were handed the respective number stickers and were asked to stick it to their clothes when the actual tournament started the next day.

Bonnie sighed, glad that both of them managed to complete the marathon in time. Max wasn't as relaxed as she was; instead, he told her that he was going to check on May, and disappeared almost instantly. In the meantime, Bonnie decided to report about the knocked-out people in the woods as well as to ask the police if they had found out what had happened to Dawn.

It only took her half a minute to find Officer Jenny out of all the officers she could see. The officer recognized her at once, and told her to meet up after the end of the marathon. Bonnie nodded in response and having nothing to do, decided to check on May – she had been worried about her after all.

Half an hour later, she was standing beside Max in the room May had been moved to earlier. The doctor had said that her condition was stable so neither of them felt worried now. No one else was there; all of them were busy, somehow involved in the prelims. They were going to be late: the two knew for sure. Neither of them had spoken since Bonnie entered the room. May had been asleep the whole time, so they didn't want to disturb her by talking. But the silence was slowly getting a bit awkward.

Bonnie was about to start some small talk when Max broke the silence. "So, what did you want to talk about to me?"

Bonnie turned her head a bit and glanced at him but he wasn't looking at her. She was silent for a while, formulating a response. "Do you really think Ace's the one?"

There was another pause. "I don't know," said Max, with a sigh. "I am almost sure that I jumped to the conclusion."

There was no need to ask what the conclusion was; both of them knew it. There was another short pause as Bonnie contemplated for a bit. After a while, she decided to tell Max what she had found out the night they heard about May's misfortune. It took her a bit to explain everything, but she didn't leave anything out – she knew she could trust Max to keep it all a secret.

Max listened to her carefully, looking shocked for a moment when she told him how Ace had touched her inappropriately. Bonnie was pretty sure she saw his anger flare up while she was explaining that bit. Once she was done explaining, silence filled the room while Max thought about the whole deal.

After a painfully long silence, Max spoke. "So, we have two Aces now? And both of them use aura?"

Bonnie nodded but didn't speak. Max remained silent for another short while. "That explains how you knew the fake Ace." Another pause. "How do you think we are going to figure out one from the other? It takes a bit of time to dig up someone's aura signature."

Bonnie shrugged. "We'll have to find another way, I guess."

Max looked at her. "You're right, I guess." A pause. Bonnie waited for him to speak. "I think we should go investigate again."

Bonnie nodded. "Let's hope we find a good clue. We won't have much time – probably as long as the tournament itself."

"Yeah," said Max, nodding once. He turned towards her. "Prism Tower at nine."

She nodded back at once. Just as their conversation finished, the door opened and Norman entered, followed by Caroline. Norman gave a short nod to Bonnie, while Caroline gave her a watery smile. Exchanging glances with Max, who gave an imperceptible nod, she left the room, leaving the family to themselves.

Just as she walked out, Clemont appeared in the hallway, followed by the rest of her friends. The only ones who hadn't arrived yet were Ash and Serena, but hearing the muffled shouts from near the front door of the hospital, Bonnie figured that they would soon be here.

"Are they okay?" asked Clemont in a low voice.

Bonnie nodded. "They look okay, but I think we should leave them alone for a while."

"What about May?" asked Brock worriedly.

Bonnie shook her head, much to everyone's dismay. "She hasn't woken up yet. What about Dawn? Is she okay?"

"I just checked up on her." Ash's voice was heard as he appeared behind others, with Serena. "She's at the police station right now, but she will be brought back here once they are done questioning her. Officer Jenny said she looked fine."

"I wonder what's been going on," muttered Gary, just loud enough for everyone to hear.

Before everyone could start discussing about the whole deal, Bonnie decided to interrupt. "Let's go to the Pokémon Centre or somewhere where we won't disturb the Maple family."

There was silence for a while as the others thought about it.

"I refuse," said Ash adamantly. "I want to be here for her when she wakes up."

Everyone seemed to agree with him. But Bonnie had already known that she would get that kind of an answer.

"I refuse your refusal," she said at once. "Worrying about her isn't going to heal her. I'd rather find the cause of this incident than waste my time worrying and doing nothing."

She got shocked glances from everyone. How could she be so hard-hearted? Before anyone could say anything else, she asked, "Am I saying something wrong? Shouldn't we catch the criminal as soon as possible before any other girl ends up in the same state? Or are you willing to have many other lives ruined for the sake of one girl?" She sighed as the others continued to stare at her, shocked. "It's not like I want you to forget about her. I'd say, she would want to see her family more than anything else when she wakes up. I know I'd want to."

There was silence for sometime as Bonnie waited for a response. When she didn't get one, she gave another sigh and turned towards the exit of the hallway. "Do whatever you want to," she said with a wave of her hand. "I know what I want to do."

With that, she left the hospital, leaving behind a stunned silence. Everyone exchanged glances, having no idea what to say. Meanwhile, Bonnie decided to head over to the police station to talk with Officer Jenny if they had found out about Dawn. She looked at her watch and noted it was already past eight in the evening. She had just under an hour to meet up with Max – and that was enough time for her to find out about what she wanted.

As she walked down the street to the police station, she thought about all the things that had happened so far. The one thing that intrigued her the most was what she had heard at the ramshackle hut behind the Lumiose Airport. She steeled herself and decided to solve the mystery as quickly as possible. _I will get to the bottom of this mystery even if that is the last thing I do._

* * *

 **Sorry for the late updates. I've just been too busy. Also, I apologize in advance if there were any mistakes in the chapter that I might have missed. Hope you like this chapter.**


	7. The Champions' League

Chapter 7: The Champions' League

Max checked the time: it was just a minute past nine in the evening. Bonnie hadn't yet arrived. He had been waiting at the decided place for about five minutes now. Before that, he was at the hospital along with the rest of his friends. Unknown to Bonnie, he had heard what she had said about finding the criminals and had felt glad that at least someone was making a move to capture them, rather than wait for May to wake up – she had been given a heavy dose of sedative to keep her asleep for at least a day.

He himself was fed up of waiting as well, and wanted to punish the criminals too, but he also had to make sure that his family was okay before doing anything. He couldn't just leave his parents to look after his sister. And so, he had been there at the hospital before leaving to meet up with Bonnie. It had taken some time to convince his parents to let him go but after a while, they had relented.

He tapped his foot impatiently, wondering where Bonnie was. He wanted to go the slums as soon as possible to at least try and find some kind of clue, but he had no idea where exactly the incident had taken place. Finally, at around ten minutes past nine, he saw Bonnie running towards him. She slowed down to a stop and looked a bit tired, presumably from the recent run. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Police station," replied Bonnie, once she had caught her breath. "Dawn had already left in their car when I reached there. When I asked what they learnt, they said that Dawn's memory was fuzzy and that she couldn't remember exactly what had happened." She paused for a bit while Max listened closely. After a moment, she continued. "So, I went to check on her. She had already met up with others when I reached there. I quickly scanned her mind, and found that some parts of her memory were erased as well as blocked. Whoever did that must be an expert psychic because I couldn't unblock the blocked memories."

By this time, they had started walking towards the airport. Max stared at the ground thoughtfully as Bonnie waited for his response. After a while, he spoke. "Apparently, we are dealing with people who are used to all this stuff. We must be careful."

Bonnie nodded. Soon enough, they reached the main entrance of the airport. Max glanced at Bonnie who gestured for them to continue. They continued for quite some time, before eventually reaching the outskirts of the city – the airport was built at the edge of the city, after all. The two went out into the surrounding forest, where they had finished their marathon just a few hours ago, and after a while, Bonnie turned and started into the bushes, with Max following her behind.

After walking through the dense forest for a few minutes and a lot of twisting and turning down almost invisible paths, they finally reached the entrance – if that's what they could call it – of the slums. They stood there, staring at the uninviting and sinister alley. Just like the last time Bonnie had been there, the main street was deserted. There wasn't a soul in sight.

Max glanced briefly at Bonnie, wondering how in the world did she dare to come here alone last time. He had to admit that he was impressed that she still dared to come here even after going through what she did.

"Let's get going," he said, looking ahead.

"Yeah."

Max glanced at Bonnie curiously again. She had responded a bit tentatively.

"What happened? Something bothering you?" asked Max curiously.

Bonnie didn't respond right away. Instead, she suddenly pounced on him and pinned him against the wall of a nearby hut. Before Max could even comprehend what was happening, she leaned in until her lips were just a few millimeters from his. He could feel her breath on his face.

"What the heck are you doing?" Max would have almost shouted, but Bonnie clamped his mouth shut with her hand.

"Shhhh…!" She hissed fiercely. "We're being followed."

Her statement made Max focus his aura at once instinctively, and he sensed two figures about a hundred meters behind them, hidden somewhere in the dense forest. He looked back at Bonnie and nodded slightly to tell her that he knew. Bonnie, seeing him nod, removed her hand from his mouth so he could speak.

"But why do we need to be _this_ close?" whispered Max awkwardly, referring to their current position. Not only could he feel her breath on his face, her body was completely pressed against his, making him have weird thoughts that he didn't want to think about at that time. He was fighting the urge to hold Bonnie and enjoy her curves.

Bonnie seemed to be having similar thoughts since she could feel Max's toned body against hers. Considering how much they had trained, Max had certainly developed a good physique, and now that she felt it up against her body, she couldn't help but fantasize a bit. Blushing madly, she shook her head slightly to clear her thoughts. She was glad that the street was dark enough to hide her blush.

"What else would two teenagers be doing in such a lonely place in the first place at this time of night?" She asked rhetorically in a low voice. "It's not like we can say we are here for a walk or something. And obviously, we can't tell the truth either."

Max nodded slightly. He certainly was enjoying the feeling of Bonnie's body against his but he wanted to quickly finish up what they had come to do there in the first place. So, he asked, "How long do you think until they leave?"

Bonnie shook her head once, indicating she didn't know. Then suddenly, she moved over and pulled Max along with her so that now she was the one pinned against the wall. Max seemed a bit surprised by the move but he understood the implication at once. It should seem to others that they were making out or something like that, or whoever was following them would easily figure out that they were just faking.

Deciding to make it look realistic, Max brought his hand down to Bonnie's waist and slowly started rubbing down there. The sudden move caught Bonnie off-guard and she almost gasped out loud.

"Sorry about that," whispered Max quickly. "There's no way this can look realistic without some more action like that."

"I know that but you could have warned me," she whispered back fiercely. She couldn't deny the fact, though, that she was enjoying the feeling a lot.

As if to retort to Max's act, she slid her hand around his neck and pulled him in so that they were just a few millimeters away from each other.

"Do you think we should make it 'real' instead of making it 'look realistic'?" She whispered in his ear seductively. She felt him shiver with excitement instantly.

Max pulled her further in and ran his hand down her back, making her shiver in excitement. "Why not?" He whispered back.

Just when both of them felt that they couldn't control themselves any longer, the aura presence suddenly disappeared. Max, who noticed it at once, pushed himself off of Bonnie and threw himself down on the ground, sighing in relief. Bonnie, too, sighed and walked few steps away from Max before sitting down on the ground.

"I was almost about to give in, you know," she said, looking at Max.

"You don't say? I was barely holding myself back," said Max, getting up. "I wasn't expecting you to pull off that move on me."

"It was the first time I did something like that," said Bonnie, as she too got up.

"It doesn't seem like that," stated Max, walking up to her. "But I am not one to talk since this is the first time I've been that close to a girl."

Bonnie chuckled, making Max look at her curiously. She shook her head in response. Max shrugged his shoulders.

"Did you figure out who was that guy?" asked Bonnie, not wanting to waste any more time.

"He was too far away to be able to easily find his aura signature," said Max, as he followed Bonnie to their destination. "And I was too distracted to focus on that."

Bonnie glanced at him a bit awkwardly and apologized. Max shook his head and smirked. "Not that I'm complaining. I enjoyed it."

Bonnie went a bit red and looked away from him, feeling embarrassed since she was the one who had started it in the first place. She hadn't been thinking of the awkwardness of the situation when she had pinned Max to the wall; she had been thinking of the quickest way to avoid raising suspicion. Nevertheless, thinking back on it made her uncomfortable.

"How much further?" Max's question pulled her out of her thoughts as she looked around to get a bearing of where they were.

"A couple of blocks and we should be there," she replied, temporarily deciding to forget about the previous situation.

Soon enough, they reached the alley where the crime had taken place. Bonnie stopped at the entrance, making Max wonder if there was anything dangerous. In the meantime, Bonnie scanned the alley with her aura vision and noticed something strange.

 _Where is that camera?_ She wondered, recalling the one she had seen when she had been there before. _Has someone removed it?_

She looked around some more and also noticed that the yellow tapes that had been there before were also gone. It made her feel suspicious at once. She had just come from the police station and from what she had found out after talking to the officers, she knew that their investigation was still going on. So there was no way they would remove the warning tapes so soon. Something didn't add up but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"Well?" asked Max, waiting for her to speak.

"Something isn't right," said Bonnie, looking at him.

Max shrugged. "We can't just leave after coming so far. We'll see what to do if anything comes up."

Bonnie nodded. It seemed like the best option at the moment. They went ahead until Bonnie stopped and pointed towards one of the more dilapidated huts. Max realized at once what she meant and nodded. The two tiptoed towards it and hid under the window. Both of them used their aura to see if they could sense anyone inside. They felt nothing.

Since they didn't sense anything, Max, after nodding at Bonnie, peered in the hut. There wasn't much to see except a small table in the center, a bed to the left and a closet to the right. There was also some kind of weird smell that Max couldn't quite point out where it was coming from. There was a door opposite to the window he was peering in from. It looked fairly new from what he could see so he assumed that it must have been recently fitted.

He turned towards Bonnie and shrugged his shoulders, indicating that there wasn't much in the room. Without a word, they decided to go and investigate the room. It was ten minutes past ten in the night, so they had enough time to investigate as well as catch up some sleep.

The two jumped into the room through the window. As soon as they went inside, they immediately felt a sinister presence, as though the room harbored the evil thoughts of its occupants. They exchanged glances, knowing they were on the right track. They started searching the room.

Bonnie went to the closet and opened it up, only to be greeted by a dirty smell. She pinched her nose in disgust and annoyance, and quickly started searching through the closet, hoping that she wouldn't have to spend too much time inhaling the disgusting smell. Luckily for her, there wasn't much in the cupboard other than some unwashed, sticky clothes. Once she was done searching, she looked around the room to see if she could find a clue.

In the meantime, Max went to check the bed. There really couldn't be much there, he thought, as he pulled the blanket off the mattress. As soon as he did that, he smelled something rather familiar coming from the blanket.

 _Is that… cum?_ He thought, disgusted. He wondered how anyone could live so filthily and leave their bed like that. Anger started welling up inside him as he realized that this had been the place where May had been raped. He took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself down. There was no point in giving away their presence when they were finding clues. If their enemy was still around, he would be alerted and they couldn't afford to do that.

He quickly searched the bed but there was nothing else other than sticky bed sheets filled with the smell of cum. Disgusted, he threw the sheets angrily on the bed and sighed. Turning around, he saw that Bonnie was done searching as well.

The two stared at each other for a moment, and then turned towards the door to the room, same thoughts running through both of their minds. They walked towards it and cautiously opened the door, peering through the small slit. Beyond the door was an even darker alley that seemed to continue ahead in the dark night.

Nodding at each other, Max went ahead and Bonnie followed. Both of them had to use their aura vision to look in the dark. They were on full alert since they couldn't use a flashlight and risk giving away their position.

They observed everything around them as they walked ahead. After about ten minutes of walking in the dark, Max heard Bonnie's voice in his head.

 **"Did you notice the strange tyre marks in the dirt below?"** She asked.

 **"Yeah, I did,"** replied Max telepathically. **"It seems like we are on the right track; we just don't have any idea what to make of these."**

 **"Yeah…"** Bonnie paused, apparently thinking about something. **"Something doesn't seem right."**

They didn't communicate any further, and focused on continuing with the tracks. An hour passed before the dark, dense forest, where the tracks had led them, thinned out and about fifteen minutes later, the tracks brought them to the highway from Lumiose to Coumarine City. Seeing that they couldn't do anything more, they started walking down the highway towards Lumiose City.

Even though it was almost midnight, it didn't seem like that, considering the traffic on the highway. The two idly looked at the cars racing madly along the highway as they walked. If they were right about where they were, they would reach the outskirts of Lumiose in just under an hour.

But they were wrong in assuming that they would easily reach Lumiose without any incident. As they were walking down a really dense part of the forest through which the highway went, Max suddenly shouted. "Down!"

Both of them sprawled on the ground – Bonnie having no idea what was going on, but responding to his command anyway. Something whizzed over their heads, passed right through a tree behind them and disappeared into the forest. Not even exchanging glances, Max jumped right over the highway with his aura and started after the person he had felt right before the attack, while Bonnie went into the forest to see what had been used to attack.

She could easily see the holes that had formed in the trees as she ran inside the forest. Judging from the size, it seemed like a rifle bullet to her. The holes continued for almost half a mile, making her wonder what kind of material it was made of. Soon enough, she saw something embedded in a tree and slowed down. Picking it up, she saw it was a rifle bullet but remarkably, even after passing cleanly through quite a lot of trees, it was still good as new – as if it had been coated with some kind of protective layer.

 _If anything, it has to be aura._ Bonnie thought as she retraced her steps back to follow Max. _I can't sense any on the bullet so whoever had coated it, must have removed it by now. Either that or the aura could have had a timer… if that's possible. Ace might know about it._

Meanwhile, Max had sensed someone's aura as he ran through the woods on the other side of the highway. It was the same aura he had chased back in the marathon. Since it was dark, Max was having a hard time dodging all the branches and bushes in his path, while the person ahead was just as fleet-footed as he was during the day-time. It was obvious to Max that the person knew the whole surrounding area like the back of his palm.

Max would have liked to fly and follow him but there was no way he could do so without losing sight of him in the darkness; besides, it would be harder to sense his aura if he was focused on flying. It frustrated him but there was nothing he could do about it. He simply kept up his pace as he followed the figure.

Fifteen minutes passed. Half an hour passed. But the person still kept on running. It was apparent to Max that the person knew he was being followed and was either trying to lose his tail or was trying to tire him out. He checked the time on his Holo Caster – five minutes past two in the morning.

Clicking his tongue in annoyance, he stopped. There was no point in continuing the chase any further. He knew he couldn't catch the guy since he was familiar with the area as well as fleet-footed. Also, Max had the league to go to so he wanted to rest a bit before it started. He waited for some time to catch his breath as he observed the presence of the aura receding. After a while, he took a deep breath and flew up with his aura, just high enough to see the direction in which the highway was. Seeing that he wasn't too far – strangely – he decided to fly to the edge of the forest and then walk down to the highway.

He saw Bonnie running towards him when he reached the highway. She caught up to him and they started walking towards Lumiose City as they talked.

"Who was it?" asked Bonnie, handing over the bullet to Max.

Max shook his head, indicating he didn't know. "But I am pretty sure it is the same guy I had been chasing in the marathon."

Bonnie glanced at him before asking who he was chasing. Max replied, "I don't know, but he must have been probably one of those three you knocked out back then. I was too worried about what was happening to bother to find out the real guy."

"Somehow, that reassures me," said Bonnie with a smile.

Max looked at her, surprised, before smiling back. Then, he checked the bullet and noticed the same thing as Bonnie – that it was perfectly fine and looked as good as new, even after it being fired at them. He exchanged glances with Bonnie, who nodded, and then put the bullet in his pocket.

"I guess we should think about this later," he said, picking up his pace.

Bonnie picked up her pace as well as she nodded. "I wonder how many of us got selected in the tournament," she said, changing the topic. "What do you think?"

Max thought for a moment. "I guess Ash must have been selected – easily. Brock too and probably others as well. I am not sure about May or Dawn though – not after what had happened with both of them."

Both of them went silent after that, not knowing how to continue the conversation. Somehow, though, the silence didn't get awkward as the two continued their long trek to Lumiose City. It was only when they could see the Prism Tower that the silence was broken.

"Where are we going to go?" asked Max as the two watched the beautiful scenery in front of them.

There was a pause before Bonnie answered. "Pokémon Centre, I guess? Everyone else will probably be at the hospital, so I think you should go there."

"I suppose you're right," said Max, with a sigh. "Alright then, see you tomorrow."

With that, the two separated and left for their respective destinations.

* * *

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the Champions' League!"

Max winced as the loudspeakers suddenly came to life. After a few hours of restful sleep, he had left the hospital and had met up with Bonnie at the stadium. Afterwards, the two had been directed by the league officials to the room where all the selected trainers were waiting for their turn. There was a large screen in the room that showed what was going on outside in the battle arena.

"Today's the first day of the grand tournament with a hundred-and-twenty-eight trainers participating. All of these trainers have proved their capabilities by surviving the marathon yesterday."

The audience cheered loudly at the statement. The announcer continued after a while.

"Today, these trainers will battle out to decide who will challenge the current Pokémon Master. The battles will be one-on-one until the semifinals when there will be full six-on-six battles. At most, sixteen matches will be held per day. The fights will be decided randomly!"

As the audience cheered, cards – with the pokéball symbol on their backs – appeared on the screen and spun around, forming a globe. Then, they spread out evenly and were overturned, showing all the decided matches. Just after that, all the trainers felt their pokédexes vibrate. Max – and Bonnie who was standing beside him – checked only to see a notification showing their opponents.

The two noted the name of their opponents and then checked when their turn was going to be. Bonnie's match was sixteenth which meant she would be battling that day, while Max's match was fifty-fourth, meaning he would be battling on the last day. Seeing that they still had time, they wondered what to do.

Bonnie decided to get some training done and asked Max to help her. Max shrugged indifferently and decided to join so that he could train himself as well. The two decided to head off to find a lonely battlefield or area so that they could train their aura as well, without letting any of their opponents know. Knowing that they wouldn't find one in the city, they went off to the surrounding forest and soon came across the ideal field that was far enough away from the city for them to train in peace.

For the rest of the morning and late into the afternoon, they trained along with their pokémon, battling each other and trying to find ways to cover up for their weaknesses. It was only when they stopped to take a break and eat that they realized it was already past three p.m. Deciding that the training was enough, they packed up after their late lunch and left.

As they walked, Bonnie idly checked who was battling and saw that there was still one more battle before her turn. It was only when she checked who was going to battle before her that she stopped dead in her tracks, shocked. Max raised an eyebrow at her as she snapped out of her shock a moment later.

"Wha…?"

"Ace."

"…wait, what?"

"You heard that right," said Bonnie as she started running towards Lumiose City. "We never really bothered to check but Ace is in the tournament as well, and his battle is right before me."

Max caught up to her as the two ran quickly to the stadium, hoping they wouldn't miss Ace's battle. Both of them kept an eye on the progress of the battles as they ran. Ace's turn came up just as they reached the stadium. They reached the audience seats just in time, for Ace was walking towards his position. His opponent seemed one of those cocky idiots who were pretty sure of their win. They were quite right – they realized when he spoke.

"Are you ready for your defeat?" He said. His voice echoed across the stadium – apparently, before every match, microphones were given to the trainers so that their dialogue could be heard by everyone.

Ace didn't say a word. In fact, he had his eyes closed and he seemed to be concentrating. Just when his opponent decided to speak again, Infernape suddenly appeared from his pokéball, ready to fight.

"Fire-type, eh?" He spoke, his voice echoing again. "Well then, Vaporeon!"

His Vaporeon appeared from its pokéball. It was exceedingly obvious to both Max and Bonnie that the Vaporeon was really well-trained, and that it trusted its trainer with its life as the Vaporeon looked confidently at Infernape.

"This seems like it's going to be a really quick match," stated Max, his eyes narrowing a bit.

"Yeah," said Bonnie, a bit tentatively. "Let's hope he doesn't go overboard."

"Somehow, I don't think he will – not now anyway."

"Seems like this will be an easy win for Frank."

Bonnie turned towards the source and saw the same girl who had been bugging her since she first saw her. She still couldn't place her but she felt incredibly familiar to her – there wasn't a doubt about it. Just as she decided to ask the girl her name, the referee shouted for the match to start.

She turned back just as Frank – Ace's opponent – shouted his attack. "Hydropump!"

"Yup, this is an easy win for Frank alright," the same girl spoke as Infernape didn't make a move to try and dodge the water-type attack. The Hydropump hit the fire-type head-on and he disappeared inside the torrent of water.

"Yeah!" Frank shouted, sure that he had won.

The Hydropump suddenly stopped as everyone looked towards the field and saw Vaporeon out cold with Infernape standing above it, drenched but perfectly fine. The fire on his head burned steadily as if the water hadn't hit it at all.

There was silence in the stadium as everyone looked at the fire-type and his trainer, shocked at the outcome. Then the silence broke into a deafening cheer as Ace motioned for Infernape to come back.

"V-Vaporeon is unable to battle. The winners of this match are Ace and Infernape." The referee spoke, snapping out of his shock as Frank returned his Vaporeon, trying to wrap his head around what had just happened.

Bonnie quickly turned and glanced briefly at the same girl who knew Frank, and noticed her shocked face.

"W-well, that was quick," the announcer's voice came amidst the cheering crowd. Max looked around and soon spotted their friends in the VIP box beside Ash, looking at each other with shock on their faces. Ash, too, looked shocked but he also seemed angry – Max realized it must have been because of their first impression of Ace back at the hospital.

He turned towards Bonnie and patted her shoulder with a nod and a smile. "Good luck."

Bonnie nodded and smiled back as she heard her name being called over the loudspeakers. She looked after Max's leaving figure after he pointed at their friends' location and took a deep breath.

"… and on the other side, we have Bonnie from the Kalos region!"

The voice broke into her thoughts. Deciding that there wasn't enough time to go around to the waiting corridor, she decided to do the most logical thing. She climbed over the railing that separated the audience and jumped down, about twenty feet, to the battlefield. Everyone was surprised to see her jumping from there; they had been expecting her to walk through the entrance on her side.

The referee handed over the mic and asked her to attach it to the collar of her t-shirt. She did and then walked to her position.

"Well, Bonnie, I had been waiting…" her opponent said, getting her attention. She turned towards him and saw him smirking at her.

"For what, if I may ask?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. Chuckles could be heard as everyone waited for him to speak.

"Well, I had been waiting to defeat you," he replied back. There was an awkward silence for a while.

"And… what about it?" asked Bonnie, not knowing where this was going. Someone's laughter pierced the silence, before the whole audience joined in. After some time, they calmed down waiting for him to speak, though mumbles could still be heard here and there.

Before he could answer though, the referee interrupted. "Please bring out your pokémon, Peter and Bonnie. We would like to continue as soon as possible."

Heeding his word, Bonnie threw out her pokéball. "Sylveon, come on out!"

Sylveon appeared in front of her trainer. It had evolved from the same Eevee that Max had gifted to her three years ago. All of her friends, watching from the VIP box, looked proud as they saw Sylveon, knowing how well Bonnie had been taking care of her.

"We'll see how well Bonnie had been taking care of Sylveon, right, Clemont?" Ash spoke, giving the inventor a smile.

"Yup," the inventor replied, but said no more. He was focusing more on the battle to see how much his sister had progressed during her journey.

"Sylveon, huh? Alright, Lucario, it's your turn!" Peter shouted, throwing his pokéball.

"Match begin!"

"Lucario, Extreme Speed!" Lucario seemingly disappeared from the battlefield. They could see the dust flying as Lucario ran speedily, making it hard to pinpoint where he exactly was. "Now, use Bone Rush!"

Bonnie hadn't commanded Sylveon to move at all. Instead, she said, "Block all attacks until I tell you to do otherwise."

"How do you expect to block an attack that no one can see?" asked Peter, sounding genuinely confused.

Bonnie smirked. "If you have that question, you can never defeat me."

"Don't be too cocky," warned Peter, narrowing his eyes. "Lucario, use your full strength!"

"Sylveon, do it!" shouted Bonnie. Everyone, including her friends, seemed confused with Bonnie's approach to the attack. Murmurs filled the stadium as everyone talked what she was talking about.

Suddenly, Sylveon moved a step aside and brought one of her feelers to the ground quicker that anyone's eyes could see. The next moment, Lucario fell down and skidded on the ground to a stop with Sylveon's feeler wrapped around his ankle – his bone rush disappearing.

"Wha..?" Peter looked at her, shocked.

"Knock Lucario out, Sylveon," said Bonnie. Sylveon extended one of her remaining feelers and slapped near Lucario's shoulder hard. In fact, it was so hard that the sound echoed throughout the stadium cutting through the silence like knife through butter. The next moment, Lucario was down, out cold.

"Lucario is u-unable to battle. The winners are Bonnie and Sylveon." The referee said after a moment, stuttering a bit after seeing two one-hit knockouts one after the other.

The silence broke as the crowd started cheering deafeningly at Bonnie's win. Bonnie returned Sylveon and then walked towards Lucario, seeing that Peter was walking in that direction as well. She reached Lucario earlier and making an invisible aura needle, punctured Lucario's right paw. After a moment, Lucario wake up just as both the referee and Peter reached there. The two trainers handed over their mics to the referee while Lucario looked confused.

"We lost, Lucario," said Peter bluntly, with a sigh. Lucario looked sad and apologized to his trainer. "Oh, that's fine, Lucario. Really!"

"So," started Bonnie, getting both of their attention, "what did you mean when you said you wanted to defeat me?"

"Oh, that? If you don't mind, we can talk later," replied Peter, turning to look at the referee. Bonnie followed his gaze and noticed the referee looking impatient as well as many people leaving the stadium.

She turned back at Peter and nodded. Pointing towards the exit from the battlefield, she said, Come along."

As they walked, she asked her question again.

"You see, I was inspired to become a coordinator after seeing you perform in the Hoenn Grand Festival," replied Peter, smiling at her. "After seeing how quickly you took decisions during battle as well as appeals round, I got interested, and well, I have been travelling in Hoenn. After hearing about Champions' League, I decided to come here in case I meet you, challenge you, and if possible, defeat you. All of that was fine except I didn't expect you to make such quick work of me and Lucario."

Bonnie laughed. "Oh, I don't like wasting my pokémon's energy for nothing. There is no point in wasting energy if there are other ways to do the job. Besides, I guess Sylveon must have been tired after more than five hours of training today."

Peter and Lucario gaped at her. _Five_ hours of training?! That was crazy!

Bonnie noticed them gaping and sweat-dropped. "Is it that big a deal?" she asked awkwardly.

"Of course!" exclaimed Peter. "We usually get tired after just an hour of continuous training. How can you train for that long?"

"Well, I've been training that long since about a couple of years now," replied Bonnie, sweat-dropping. "So, I guess I am used to it."

Peter whistled in admiration. He and Lucario exchanged glances, and then, he turned towards her. "Do you mind if we join you during your training?

Bonnie shrugged. "If you want to. But be ready to work your ass off."

"Alright thanks!" Peter said and ran ahead, waving back at her. "See you later!"

Bonnie waved back and decided to jog to the VIP box where the others had been. She didn't need to go all the way there, though, for she bumped into them on the way. All of them congratulated her on her win as they made their way out of the stadium. It was only then that Bonnie realized that Dawn wasn't with them – she had been there at first, when she and Max had arrived.

"Where's Dawn?" She asked Ash as she glanced briefly at Max. Max gave an imperceptible nod back. Ash seemed to have picked up their exchange for he too glanced at Max before turning towards Bonnie to answer her question.

"She left halfway through the matches saying she didn't feel well," he replied. "No idea what had happened but Brock has gone with her to check. It was apparent though that she did have a fever."

"I hope she will be fine," said Bonnie thoughtfully.

 **"Something doesn't seem right,"** Bonnie heard Max say telepathically. **"She can't just get a fever. She was perfectly fine till she went missing."**

 **"I figured,"** replied Bonnie as they walked towards the hospital. **"For some reason, I have a bad feeling about this."**

Soon enough, they were back at the hospital. Brock looked frantic when they saw him and asked about Dawn.

"Her fever has been rising steadily," he said, sweating a bit as he looked back at Dawn who was lying on the bed. "It's at 106 degrees right now."

"Can she even move?" asked Serena worriedly.

Brock shook his head. "She's been out cold since about an hour after we left. Her fever doesn't seem to go down. We've tried a lot of medicines as well as applied ice to her head but nothing seems to work so far."

Delia went near Dawn's bed and touched her forehead to see how hot she was. She pulled her hand away almost immediately. "Isn't there anything we can do to help?"

"Just bring ice," instructed Brock as one of the nurses beside Dawn said something to him, making him dash towards Dawn. "Bring a lot of it!"

"Alright!" Everyone said and ran off to do the errand, wondering what the heck was actually going on. They brought back almost four kilograms of ice and handed it over to the nurses at Dawn's bed. Max and Bonnie observed everything and exchanged glances wondering what was going on.

"Hey guys, I will stay here with Dawn," said Bonnie, getting everyone's attention. "Something's bothering me about her condition so I want to observe her for a while."

There was silence for a while before everyone gave a nod. "Make sure to tell us if something happens."

Bonnie nodded. As everyone turned their backs to her, she glanced at Max who seemed to have had the same idea as her as he looked back and nodded.

"I will go check on May," he said and left.

An hour passed as Bonnie observed the efforts of Brock and his team to bring down Dawn's fever. Dawn's condition had worsened even further – her temperature had gone up to 108 degrees before Max came back.

"So?" asked Bonnie.

"No doubt about it," said Max as he looked at Dawn. "May seems to have a different aura infused into her as well. I could sense it but May didn't have that much aura infused to put her life in danger. She still has a fever though."

"I see," muttered Bonnie. "Dawn was infused with too much of the aura. Is it the same aura?"

Max observed Dawn for a while before nodding. "The only problem is it doesn't have any aura signature and that's what has been bothering me. Unless aura can be artificially made, I don't think there is any being in the world that has that kind of aura – without a signature."

Bonnie nodded, taking in the information. After a while, she turned towards Max. "Do you think we should try removing it? It hasn't been acting like it normally would."

There was a pause while Max contemplated. "I think we should give it a try," he finally said. "She won't die but will probably stay unconscious for a while."

"Alright then."

"Hey Brock!"

Brock turned towards Max who had called him. "What is it? Have you found something?"

"Do you mind leaving us alone with Dawn?" asked Max, pointing at both of them. "I think we have found a way to bring down her fever."

"Oh, really? That's great!" Brock seemed relieved. He turned towards them as he motioned everyone to leave the room. "If you don't mind me asking, how did you find it?"

"We will explain later," said Bonnie. "Also, it would be better if you won't disturb us for a while, say about half an hour."

"I don't really like this secrecy but you better explain later." With that, Brock left the room as well, leaving only the two of them with Dawn.

The two looked at each other and took a couple of deep breaths. Then they walked up to either side of Dawn. Max rolled up his sleeves and then looked at Bonnie. "Ready?"

"Ready."

Both of their hands glowed blue and they extended them towards each other. A small blue aura sphere formed between them right above Dawn and then, the aura from it slowly detached itself and made its way to Dawn. Dawn started glowing blue when the aura touched her. Neither Bonnie nor Max needed to communicate as their aura spread inside Dawn, absorbing the foreign aura that had been using Dawn's body as its host.

Unknown to the two, Brock had sent one of the nurses working under him to call the others. Everyone had come running silently – Brock had told the nurse to tell them so – and unable to contain their curiosity, they were presently peeking in at the scene inside.

They watched, with their jaws dropped, as slowly but surely, red-colored streaks were visible travelling from Dawn's body to the aura sphere between Max's and Bonnie's hands. About fifteen minutes later, the aura sphere had turned from blue to red. Ash could easily feel the bloodlust inside the aura as it was collected there.

After five more minutes, the aura receded from Dawn's body and got concentrated in the aura sphere above. A moment later, both of their hands stopped glowing and the red sphere went towards Max.

"We were successful," said Bonnie, smiling a bit. Then she extended her hand and touched Dawn's forehead. "Her fever is almost gone now. Quite a quick response to removing this aura, I must say."

Brock, Ash and Iris, who were eavesdropping on the scene, gaped at hearing that. It was incredible how proficient the two had gotten in using their aura.

"Hey Bonnie," said Max in a voice that got her attention at once. "Check the aura signature."

"Huh? I thought there was none," said Bonnie. "I guess it must have been broken up into pieces before spreading inside Dawn, but is that even possible?"

She checked the aura signature and soon had a shocked look on her face, making their friends outside wonder what was going on. They watched as the two exchanged glances.

"There's no doubt about it," said Max grimly. "It's Ace's signature."


	8. Reunion And Secrets

Chapter 8: Reunion and Secrets

An alarm sounded in the night, waking up Bonnie suddenly. She turned it off and yawned quietly, stretching herself in her bed. Getting up, she checked the time – four-thirty a.m. Once again, she yawned and walked out of her room. Because all three of her family had been busy – mostly with the league – the house hadn't been opened in a while. Her father had handed her the key so that she could air out the house while he and her brother, Clemont, would deal with the duties they had been told to perform. And so, here she was, staying in her own house after quite a long time.

She quickly brushed her teeth and then left the house after locking it. Walking out on the street, she wasn't surprised to see no one out there. In fact, it was so silent that it was hard to believe that the city was as noisy as it seemed in the daytime. Not a soul was there to be seen other than a few nocturnal pokémon silently moving in the dark alleys, away from the streetlights.

Taking a deep breath, she threw all her pokéballs out. Her pokémon appeared in front of her, looking a bit sleepy but otherwise okay. It didn't take them long to realize what was going on.

"Let's go," said Bonnie, as she started jogging towards the Prism Tower which was a few hundred meters away from her home. As she reached the first intersection, she decided to take a detour and turned right in the direction where the hospital was. It didn't take her long to reach there. Just as she did, Max walked out of the hospital, yawning while stretching himself.

She whistled just loud enough for Max to hear. Since it was quiet, the sound carried itself easily for the distance. Max jerked his head up when he heard the whistle and turned towards her. Waving at her, he jogged up to her and released all his pokémon as well. "Let's go."

The two retraced Bonnie's steps back and started jogging, enjoying the cool early-morning air. They didn't speak – there wasn't a reason to ruin the tranquility. They observed the city in the peace as they jogged towards the Prism Tower – specifically, to the battlefield near it. It took them just about ten minutes to get there.

They noticed a lone figure there with their pokémon out, apparently training. Since it was very early in the morning, the floodlights to light up the battlefield weren't turned on, making it harder to see who the person was. The person and their pokémon seemed to be training for contests, apparent from the various tricks they were trying. Max and Bonnie just stared for a while as they saw the trainer and the pokémon work perfectly in sync, without the trainer uttering a word – something that was possible only if the two had been training together for a long time.

When the performance was done, both of them felt the urge to clap as they descended down the stairs to the person.

"Good job, Greninja." The person spoke.

Both Max and Bonnie stopped in their tracks – Bonnie, because she recognized the voice to be of the girl whose presence had been bothering her, and Max, because –

"Cass?!" Max exclaimed in shock, getting both the girls' attention.

 _No wonder she seemed so familiar!_ Bonnie thought to herself. _How stupid of me to not realize that it was Cass!_

The girl, Cass, walked towards them. They noticed her huge smile as she neared them. The two smiled back and walked up to her. The three bumped fists – that's what they had been doing when they had been travelling together.

"It's been a long time," said Max as they pulled back their hands. "I didn't know you had been here."

"Yeah, but Bonnie knew," said Cass, grinning at Bonnie who gave an awkward grin back. "I guess she didn't remember me though," she further added, making Bonnie curse herself.

"Sorry," said Bonnie apologetically, making Cass shake her head.

"I am not surprised," she said. "You two seemed quite busy – other than the league, that is."

The two exchanged glances, unanimously deciding to tell Cass everything. Seeing that she was going to hear a long story, Cass motioned towards one of the seats beside the battlefield. Their pokémon had already gone there, enjoying their reunion after about two years. The next hour went by in a flash as the three exchanged their adventures. Cass was shocked when she heard what had been going on with them.

"So, is there any way I can help?" She finally asked when they were done.

"We've got to find out what's been going on in the city," said Max thoughtfully. "What are those slums? Why are they after women? Why exactly there was aura inside them? Who is funding this? How is Ace connected with them? Why is there another guy who looks _exactly_ like Ace but has a different personality and aura signature…"

"There are too many questions," said Bonnie thoughtfully. "We'll need to think about this."

Max sighed. "And I thought I'd be able to train."

Cass, who had been sitting beside him, elbowed him. "You still have tomorrow. Besides, I think you will be able to pass through the first round easily."

Max shrugged his shoulders at the statement and checked the time. It was five-thirty a.m. "I don't feel like training at the moment. What about you two?"

The girls exchanged glances, and then, shook their heads. "Let's just get something to eat."

"Except that there won't be any open shops at the moment," stated Max as he jogged after the two girls.

"I guess we can make something at my home," said Bonnie. "Let's go."

The three made their way back to Bonnie's house with their pokémon in tow. Although it was still early in the morning, they could see that the city was starting to wake up as they greeted one of the early risers who were out for a morning walk. Once home, Bonnie went into the kitchen; Cass following after her while Max sat outside on the sofa and returned all their pokémon back to their pokéballs. As he waited for them to join him, he thought about all that had happened. It didn't take him long to decide that they needed to check out the slums again. In the meantime, Cass and Bonnie talked in the kitchen.

"I still don't understand how Ace got involved in this," said Cass. "I mean I know it was that doppelganger but still, finding someone that looked as his exact twin is pretty much impossible – shouldn't there be at least some kind of physical difference in them other than their personality and aura signature?"

"That's been bothering me for a while now," said Bonnie, looking up from her work. "It's like someone managed to clone him – everything except his personality and aura signature."

"Hmmm…" Cass looked thoughtful. "I think we should check that hut you told me about and that highway incident as well."

"Yeah, once we are done with our breakfast," replied Bonnie, motioning towards their plates. "By the way, when is your match?"

"It's the thirty-third match – first match tomorrow," replied Cass, as the two walked out with the plates.

"Then that means we have the whole day today," said Max, nodding to himself. "I think we have been thinking the same thing, right?"

The two girls nodded. They quickly finished the breakfast, and after washing the dishes, left the house. It was ten minutes to six by the time they were walking towards the exit of the city. Just as they were about to split up, they noticed a familiar figure walking towards them thoughtfully.

"Ash!"

Ash jerked his head up and looked surprised to see them there. "Hey Bonnie! And Max too. And…"

Bonnie shook her head with a sigh. "She's Cass. Don't you remember she travelled with us in Sinnoh?"

"Oh yeah, Cass," said Ash awkwardly.

Cass chuckled. "You still don't remember me, do you?"

When Ash didn't reply, she laughed, with the other two joining in. Ash laughed awkwardly as well.

"Anyway, how come you are here?" asked Max when they had stopped laughing.

"I couldn't sleep so I decided to get out for a walk. Also, I had been thinking about you-know-what," he replied, saying the last bit while glancing at Cass.

Bonnie noticed his glance and said, "Don't worry. She knows what's been going on."

Ash looked surprised and raised an eyebrow at her. She shrugged in response and said, "We told her."

"Hey Ash, you can help us as well," said Max, who had been silent, thinking about what they were going to do. When the three turned towards him, he continued, "Bonnie and Cass can go to that hut, while we will need to head over to the Lumiose-Coumarine Highway."

"What for?" asked Ash, confused about what was going on. "What hut? And why the highway?"

"I will tell you as we go there," said Max, glancing at the girls who nodded back. "Come along."

The four split up into groups of two and left, deciding to meet up at the stadium once they were done with their respective jobs. Ash followed Max as he ran ahead.

"Hey Ash, can you fly?" asked Max, as he headed towards the outskirts of the city towards the highway.

"Well, not really. I never tried that," said Ash with a shake of his head. "Are we going that far away?"

"Yeah, the location is an hour's walk away," replied Max, turning to look at Ash. "You can at least run fast with your aura, right?"

"Yeah, I can do that," said Ash, nodding.

"Alright then, let's go faster."

The two picked up speed until they were at a speed that could pretty much be called superhuman. Max started telling Ash what had been going on while he was busy with the league. It took him only about half an hour to tell him almost everything – he left out the part where Bonnie had encountered Ace's twin and the part when Bonnie and him had been 'intimate'. He didn't realize it at that time but without the first part, his story made it seem like the bad guy was the real Ace. And that was what Ash thought but he didn't mention it either.

"I see," muttered Ash, his brain running a mile a minute. "So, now Cass and Bonnie are going to check the hut in the mysterious slums while we try to find if there are any clues that you could have missed."

"Yeah, and I think we are almost there," said Max, slowing down suddenly. Ash didn't slow down in time and ended up running almost a mile further. The two walked towards each other and met up in the middle, where Max stopped and started looking around.

The sun had just started rising when they finally found the place they were looking for. Max pointed there and the two walked up to the place. Ash noticed the hole in the tree at once and realized that if Max hadn't been alert, one of those two might have even died.

"I'd have liked to show you the bullet, but I think Bonnie has it," said Max, getting Ash's attention.

"She'll hand it over to the police, right?" asked Ash, raising an eyebrow.

Max nodded and turned to face the wide road, which was already busy with the morning traffic. "To the other side."

With that, he jumped right over the wide six-lane roadway, leaving Ash gaping after him. He turned around after landing and motioned Ash to do the same. Snapping out of his stupor, Ash walked few steps back and then ran and jumped. Never having used his aura like that, Ash ended up applying too much force, and landed into one of the trees. Max closed his eyes as Ash fell down from up there and landed on the back of his neck.

"That must have hurt," he commented when Ash got up rubbing the back of his neck, groaning.

"You don't say?" he said, looking around. "Alright, where now?"

"Just about near this area," replied Max. "He was probably running around in circles when I had been following him, and I wasn't that far from the highway when I stopped chasing him."

The two entered the forest and slowly started searching the area as silently as they could. A few minutes passed before Max broke the silence.

"Hey Ash, don't you have to go the league today as well?" he asked, turning towards him.

Ash looked up and returned his gaze. "Well, it's not like it's mandatory for me. Besides, my match is scheduled tomorrow – thirty-fourth match. I can easily tell them that I was training outside the city."

Max raised an eyebrow. "I thought you'd be directly qualified for the quarter finals or something since you already have defeated three regional champions by now."

Ash chuckled slightly. "Yeah, I was allowed to directly participate in the quarter finals if I wanted, but I…"

"… wanted to be fair and take part like any other trainer?" chuckled Max. "I know you."

Ash laughed. "You got that right."

"By the way, is everyone okay?"asked Max seriously.

Ash noted the sudden change in his voice. "Everyone seems fine except they are still a bit shaken. I am still not sure about your parents though. They haven't talked to any of us at all other than a few greetings and stuff. May had woken up in the middle of the night but after checking up on her, she was told to sleep. I suppose she's still sleeping."

"And what about Dawn?" asked Max after a pause.

"Her fever had gone down completely by the time we went to sleep," replied Ash. He looked thoughtful. "What exactly did you and Bonnie do yesterday to heal Dawn?"

"Her body had some kind of foreign aura injected into it," started Max slowly. "Two different kinds of auras can't mix with each other unless the aura injector has flawless control on his aura. All we did was, pull out that foreign aura. When we checked the aura signature, it turned out to be that of Ace's."

"I see," muttered Ash. "I want to kill that guy right now."

"I'd say we wait for some time," commented Max, getting a surprised look from Ash. "Something about the whole situation doesn't add up yet, and I want to see what exactly it is."

"Wait… Aren't you going to stop me from killing him? I am talking about a _murder_ here, you know," said Ash, surprised.

Max shrugged. "I'd probably help you if that turned out to be the case."

Ash glanced sideways at Max before the two resumed their search. There was silence for a while before Ash broke it, this time. "By the way, what about those drugs that you said Bonnie had told you about? Have you found out anything about them?"

"Nothing," said Max after a pause. "In fact, we were more focused on trying to find who was behind what happened to May. I had almost forgotten about it until I told you today."

"Hmmm…"

The next hour passed in complete silence as the two combed the area. It was only after past seven-thirty that they found something.

"Check this out, Max," called Ash, waving his hand towards his friend. Max ran over to him and Ash pointed a bit farther ahead from where they were.

A few meters ahead, the bushes there didn't seem real. Their hunch was right when they went ahead and checked. The leaves were made of plastic and behind the cover of those bushes were many used cartridges, lying around. Whoever had been here either hadn't bothered to clean up or he was going to come again there.

Ash and Max exchanged glances, knowing something wasn't right. With the help of his psychic power, Max picked up a few cartridges and put them in a plastic bag he had brought with him just in case. Ash watched fascinated as Max did the job.

"That wasn't aura that you were using, right?" he asked when Max was done.

Max shook his head. "Yeah, that was my psychic power. Aura is more effective when used on living things while psychic powers are better when dealing with the non-living things."

"That's fascinating," said Ash. "Do tell me more when we are done with all the things here."

Max nodded and the two decided to leave for Lumiose City to hand over what they had found to Clemont.

* * *

"Is Ash usually that forgetful?" Bonnie looked towards Cass who had asked the question.

"Not really. I guess he only saw you a few times so he probably didn't remember you," replied Bonnie after a bit of thought. "Honestly, I am not surprised since he meets hundreds of people in just a week."

"Being famous kind of sucks, you know," said Cass, hearing Bonnie's reply. "You rarely ever get enough privacy. And even if you do, there's still no guarantee that you will have that privacy for long."

"Yeah, I'd rather be happy with my pokémon than achieve something and lose all my privacy," replied Bonnie, agreeing with her friend.

"How's you training going on, by the way?" asked Cass, changing the subject.

"Great," replied Bonnie, smiling a bit. "I am still not satisfied though. I still haven't been able to figure out what I'm most suited for."

"Same with me," said Cass with a sigh. "I always feel like I reach the end of the ordeal but then I can't control my aura and well, explosion."

Bonnie chuckled. "It makes me realize there is really much, much more to aura than I could have ever thought of."

As they continued talking, they reached the outskirts of slum area. They stopped talking and nodding at each other, entered there. Almost immediately, they felt some kind of evil aura coming from somewhere deep inside the slums. As always, the whole street was empty even as the sun was rising, making them wonder if anyone even actually lived there. Nevertheless, they continued ahead.

After a while of walking, Cass exchanged glances with Bonnie who gave a slight nod. Both of them were thinking the same thing: that they were being followed. They felt two different kinds of auras behind them, much like the last time when Bonnie had been there with Max. Just as the two were wondering how to get rid of their tail, there was a sudden gust of wind that was strong enough to make them close their eyes. Just as they did, something passed by quickly and then, the wind stopped blowing.

Bonnie opened her eyes only to see a tall man, completely covered in black clothes, his hand holding both of Cass's arms from her wrist, effectively not letting her do anything with her hands. For a moment, she gaped, wondering what had happened. But it only lasted a moment. She narrowed her eyes. "Who are you and what do you want?"

"Never ever step in this place again," the stranger said. "We will kill you."

"What if we didn't listen to you?" asked Bonnie, narrowing her eyes even more.

"Your friend will die," said the man simply.

Bonnie smirked. "I doubt it."

As she said that, Cass formed an aura disc in her palm and shot it at the man holding her. The move took him by surprise as he suddenly let go and dodged the disc. He looked up just as the disc passed cleanly through one of the huts behind him and exploded beyond it. In the meantime, Cass ran and stood beside Bonnie.

The man seemed pissed off as he turned back towards the girls and stood up straight. The girls readied themselves for his attack. He suddenly disappeared from where he was, forcing them to stay alert as they looked around waiting for him to give away his position.

Cass suddenly felt a rush of air near her stomach and quickly brought her hands there just as the man appeared in front of her. His kick would have sent her flying if it wasn't for her quick reflexes. She jumped back as the man disappeared again, and reappeared right in front of her with a hard punch aimed towards her solar plexus.

She felt all the wind knock out of her stomach as she was thrown on the ground with the sudden force. The man quickly flipped forward so that the heel of his right foot landed right into Cass' stomach, making her throw up some blood from the force. Just as the man was ready to give the final blow to her neck, he felt something hit him from behind, throwing him into a tree near one of the huts. Bonnie landed and bent down to help Cass up just as the man got up and started walking towards them.

Cass spat out some more blood and then turned to face the man as he disappeared again. This time, she took a deep breath and concentrated her aura, taking in all the disturbances around her. She noticed the man's aura disturbing the surroundings so fast that she almost gasped out loud. He was moving so fast that it was obvious to her that without any special training, no one would be able to face him.

The man slowed down just a bit as he neared her and wanting to take her chance, Cass waited for him to strike. Just as he aimed a chop at her head, she bent backward, barely avoiding his hand. She felt a stinging pain near the collar bones, but decided to focus on it later as she quickly hit the man at the base of his neck. The chop made the man stumble and Bonnie, taking the chance, hit him with another well-aimed chop at the same spot, knocking him out.

"Let's get going quickly," said Bonnie as the two started running away from the unconscious man. "He'll wake up sooner than usual. It was obvious that he had been through some grueling training."

"Yeah," agreed Cass, nodding. She looked down and saw a straight cut on her skin from one shoulder to the other with blood dripping slowly from the wound. _If I hadn't bent down when I did, I'd have died on the spot. That guy is no amateur; he knew how to use his aura._

"Are you okay?" Bonnie's question snapped Cass out of her thoughts. She turned to look at her and nodded. Bonnie noticed the cut below her neck as they slowed down a bit. "You better heal that wound as quickly as you possibly can."

Cass nodded again. "How much further do we still need to go?"

"Just a bit more," replied Bonnie, turning back to look ahead. "Also, just to be safe, make sure to hide you aura as much as you can."

Cass nodded and followed her friend just as she turned into an alley. This time, Bonnie had gone there during morning so the alley looked quite different from during the night time. For a moment, Bonnie paused and wondered if she was at the right place, but then, decided to continue ahead.

The two slowly approached the hut, masking their aura presence. Since it was daytime, the two were quite sure they would be able to uncover clues that Bonnie and Max might have missed last time. They hid beneath the window and waited for some time to see if they could hear any voices. A few minutes passed but when they didn't hear any voices, they decided it was safe for the time being and jumped through the window.

This time, the two searched more thoroughly than the last time, checking every nook and cranny. The disgusting smell was still there when Bonnie checked the bed while Cass checked the cupboards. Noticing the sticky clothes and blankets, Bonnie wondered if that was what she thought it to be. Feeling disgusted at touching it, she decided to check the path outside that had led her and Max to the highway. She was just about to open the door when she heard some footsteps coming towards them.

"Cass!" She hissed, walking silently towards the girl who still seemed to be searching the closet.

"What?" She whispered back, lowering her voice just in time. "Don't tell me someone's coming."

Bonnie nodded. Cass motioned towards the closet. "See what I found."

As she said that, she climbed into the closet and after that, disappeared. Bonnie gaped at that. Just as she was contemplating whether to follow her friend or still risk searching around a bit, the door rattled. Knowing that she didn't have much time, she climbed into the closet and shut the door quickly, leaving just a small gap for her to breathe in the revolting-smelling cupboard.

The door of the hut opened and the four people – the same ones she had seen when she had come there for the first time – entered. It was then that she realized that the person she and Cass had fought was none other than the one who had brought the drugs to the other three.

"Where did you waste the drugs?" He asked, getting straight to the point. "We had given you enough to be able to bring us at least three more women."

Ace – the fake one – muttered something. When he got questioning looks, he spoke out loud. "Well, there is this one bitch that is a real pain in the ass. And for your information, she's the blonde one out of the two you fought today."

There was silence as their enemy looked thoughtful. "Alright, you can have it," he said after a pause, motioning towards the drugs. Bonnie watched as the other three exchanged triumphant looks.

Just as he got up, one of the other two got his attention. "Just so you know, that girl also has a boyfriend. Those two were making out yesterday near the entrance."

Bonnie went a bit red as she realized what they were talking about. She shook her head to clear her thoughts as the conversation continued.

"Whatever for?"

"Who knows? I guess they think of this as their special secret place – either that, or they were drunk, which doesn't seem as likely."

"The guy didn't seem that strong," the last person spoke, making Bonnie smirk at that statement. "Also, it didn't seem like he knew that his girlfriend could use aura. So, it might be easier to target him and use him against the girl."

"Who was he?"

"His name is Max. He's May's brother – the one you handed over to us and let us do whatever we wanted to."

Bonnie narrowed her eyes at that and barely suppressed the urge to lash out at them. It would be a whole lot of trouble if she were discovered. She didn't know if there were any more aura users like the one they had fought. She didn't even know just how strong the one they had fought was. It wouldn't be worth risking it since the other three could use their aura as well – just not as effectively.

She waited for the conversation to continue, but it didn't. Instead, one of them got up and started walking over to the closet. Bonnie panicked a bit, knowing that she didn't have a chance to escape and would have to fight them. Just as she readied herself, she felt something wrap around her leg. Whatever it was, it pulled her so suddenly that Bonnie let out a sudden squeal. Her squeal was loud enough to be heard outside where the others were seated.

She closed her eyes as she hit something and then suddenly, felt herself sliding down somewhere into the darkness. A minute later, the slide beneath her disappeared and she fell down on the ground, a feet below. She started sneezing, realizing that wherever she had fallen, it was full of dust. She quickly got up and walked a few steps to be clear of the dust. Once her sneezing stopped, she looked around and saw nothing but darkness.

 _What was that?_ She thought to herself, as she checked the bag she had, for a flashlight. She found it and switched it on, right into Cass' face. Her sudden appearance made Bonnie jump back, but she was relieved to see her friend's face. That was only for a short moment as she noticed her grim expression.

"What happened?" She asked. Her voice echoed in the place where the two were. She flashed her torch around as she further asked where they were.

"Some kind of tunnel," replied Cass thoughtfully. "It connects with the whole city's sewer system."

"Sewer system, seriously?" asked Bonnie, pointing her flashlight down the tunnel she could now see as she helped Cass up. "By the way, did you pull me down here?"

"Yeah, since you didn't come even after I waited for some time," replied Cass. "I climbed back up just in time to hear something about the blonde of the two making out with a guy. What was that about?"

Bonnie went red again and felt thankful for the darkness. She could see Cass smirking at her, making her turn away as she answered. "I-It's not what you think it is, okay? We just didn't have another choice. And we weren't making out either."

Cass sighed and shook her head. "You could have told me, you know; so that I could have taken a few photos."

"Alright, let's just talk about something different," said Bonnie, feeling decidedly uncomfortable about the whole thing. She promised herself to think twice before doing anything like that again.

"Oh yeah, one more thing," said Cass, getting Bonnie's attention to her. "I heard something disturbing. It seems like they are planning their next few targets – and one of them is Serena."

For a moment, there was silence as the two let that bit sink in. After that, Bonnie started walking ahead, followed by Cass closely. "We should let Ash know just in case. Who are the other targets?"

"Some girl named Alicia, and also one named, Lyn," replied Cass as the two walked together.

"Lyn… that name sounds familiar," said Bonnie thoughtfully.

Cass chuckled lightly at her. "I guess she must be some friend of yours who you've forgotten – like me."

"Don't rub it in," said Bonnie, rolling her eyes. The two soon reached the main line of the sewer system. Stopping there, the two looked to either side but the drainage line seemed to go indefinitely on both sides.

"Any idea which way to go?" asked Cass, looking at her friend.

"Left, I guess?" said Bonnie, shrugging her shoulders. "I forgot which way Lumiose City was when I slid down that slide."

Suddenly, they heard a muffled sound of something following. Tensing up a bit, they looked back and saw a small light being flashed around. They knew at once that they didn't have much time to stand around. Looking at each other, they nodded and decided to run once the light started moving towards them.

"Let's go. I'll show you the place."

The two heard the statement because of the silence pervading the underground system, and decided unanimously to follow them. But first of all, they turned left and walked for a bit. They stopped when they came to a darker part of the tunnel and waited there. Soon enough, they heard footsteps nearing the intersection. As a precaution, they hid their presence as much as they could and waited.

The four reached the intersection and flashed their light towards the right side.

"Hey, isn't Lumiose to the left?"

"Yeah, but this tunnel is a reverse-S shape. It's got to do something with the land not being at the right angle for drainage."

"What does it matter? Just show him where the best place to attack is from."

The person they had fought – his name was Pete, Cass told Bonnie telepathically – stood behind them silently, waiting for them to continue. He seemed alert so the two girls decided to follow them at a safe distance.

As the four turned right and started walking ahead, Pete stopped and glanced back at their direction, making them alert. There were a few seconds of tense silence and then, Pete turned back ahead and followed the other three. Cass and Bonnie sighed in relief, knowing that they were safe for the time being.

After waiting for a few minutes, they decided to follow. They started running in the direction the four had taken. The tunnel was fairly straight for the first part but after a while, it started curving to the left. The two made sure to keep an eye on the direction they were going in. The tunnel curved left for a good while before it straightened out again, and continued straight ahead as far as their eyes could see.

They kept on slowing down once in a while whenever they felt that they might be in Pete's range of aura so it took them a good ten minutes before anything else happened. They saw that the tunnel opened up ahead and split into three different directions as they ran the last bit. They were about to jump right into the middle of the intersection when Cass suddenly stopped and pulled Bonnie behind, making her fall on her back.

"What was that for?" whispered Bonnie fiercely as she got up and dusted herself off.

Instead of giving her a response, Cass slowly walked up to the doorway of the tunnel they were in and extended her hand towards the intersection. Bonnie gaped when Cass's hand was thrown back suddenly. It was then that she noticed that there was a barrier there that prevented them from passing through. As if to confirm her thoughts, she went up to the doorway and kicked it only to feel a jolt sent back right into her leg. She bit her lip to stop herself from making any noise.

"What to do now?" asked Cass as the two exchanged glances.

Bonnie looked around and picked up a small stone from the floor. She threw it at the barrier only to see it bounce back to her. Turning towards Cass, she shook her head. "I guess he's made it so that nothing can pass through."

Cass frowned and stared at the barrier for a while. Then, she sighed. "I guess we'll have to go back again."

"Well, there doesn't seem anything else that we can do in here," said Bonnie, shrugging her shoulders.

"I wish we knew how to teleport though," said Cass, as the two started running back to where they started. "It'd be quite handy in such situations."

"It's not that easy to learn, but I guess if given enough time, we can use it effortlessly," stated Bonnie as the two stopped in front of the slide.

The two silently started climbing up the slide with Dedenne, who was in his pokéball the whole time, lighting up the way with his electricity. It was a good thing for them that the slide's edges were made of a rubber-like material and that they had worn rubber-soled shoes. So, they were safe from Dedenne's electricity.

Once they reached the very top, Bonnie returned Dedenne and pushed against the door. It didn't budge. Thinking that she might be pushing in the wrong direction, she pulled the door. It still didn't budge. She turned towards Cass and asked, "Which way does the door open?"

Cass chuckled. "It slides. That explains why you are taking so much time."

"I didn't know, okay?" said Bonnie, rolling her eyes. She tried sliding to the left and right as well as up and down. "Are you sure, Cass? This door isn't budging."

Cass felt surprised. "Let me try."

Changing positions somehow in the awkwardly small place, Cass got to the door and pulled it to the right. When it didn't budge, she turned towards Bonnie and asked, "Do you think they could have locked the door?"

Bonnie seemed thoughtful. "There might be a chance. Do you see any lock there?"

"Send Dedenne ahead, will you?" said Cass, looking back.

"Nene!" Dedenne popped out of his pokéball and scampered ahead. Being careful, he used just about enough electricity to light up the door. Cass quickly checked the door for any kind of keyholes but there didn't seem any.

"Bonnie, there doesn't seem to any keyhole," she said after thoroughly checking the door again. "Should we risk breaking the door?"

"It's not like we have a choice," replied Bonnie from behind. "Let's hope we won't have to fight anyone in there."

"Alright then, be ready!" said Cass as Dedenne scurried back to Bonnie who returned him to his pokéball. Cass balled her hand into a fist and then, when she was ready, punched the door. Her fist passed right through the door breaking it into two pieces with a loud shattering noise. The two quickly climbed into the closet just as the closet door opened.

The daylight outside blinded them since they had been in the dark so long, forcing them to close their eyes. They didn't attack right away since they didn't feel any malice in the aura of whoever had opened the door.

"Hey, aren't you… Bonnie?"

Feeling surprised that the person knew them, Bonnie opened her eyes. It took only a moment for her eyes to focus on the person. "Officer Jenny?" Bonnie didn't know why she felt surprised to see the officer but she did. "How do you know me?"

As she and Cass jumped out of the closet, they saw two more officers staring at them as if they couldn't believe their eyes.

"Don't you remember we had gone to break that antenna at Coumarine's Radio Observatory about three years ago?" asked Officer Jenny, getting Bonnie's attention.

Bonnie realized at once what she was talking about. "Then you must be Lumiose City's Officer Jenny."

The officer nodded with a small smile, which later turned into a frown. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Well, I guess you know what happened with May," started Bonnie, glancing sideways at Cass. Seeing the officer nod, she continued. "We want to help her by catching those criminals."

The officer stared at the young teenagers for a while. Then, she spoke. "How about you leave this to us? I would like your help for another bit; it is related to the Team Rocket case."

The two girls felt a bit angry at her statement but they were just as curious to know what favor Officer Jenny wanted to ask. So, they conceded. Seeing them nod, Officer Jenny motioned one of the other officers over and whispered something to him. The officer nodded and got out of the hut. A minute later, he came back with a piece of paper in his hand. He handed it over to Officer Jenny, who then showed it to the two girls.

"You remember her?" asked Officer Jenny. "I was told she had kept a close eye on you guys."

In the piece of paper was a picture of a familiar yellow-haired, yellow-eyed girl. Bonnie didn't need to think twice before asking, "Sadie?"

Officer Jenny nodded. "She's participated in the tournament. We saw her but it wasn't until we checked the old wanted lists, that we realized that she was one of them. Since we're busy with this right now," she said, jerking her hand towards the place they were in, "it'd be a great help if you could at least somehow pursue her to get to the police station. I'll let the others there know that you will bring her."

"But is it necessary right now?" asked Bonnie, looking back at the officer, a bit skeptically. "I mean, didn't we arrest the whole Team Rocket?"

"Yeah, we did, but something didn't feel right, so we had been poking our noses here and there and from what we found, it seems like Giovanni might try to escape out of the jail."

"I see," muttered Bonnie.

"I think you should leave this to me." The two turned towards Cass who was staring at her pokédex. She turned the pokédex towards them so that they could see as well. "She's my opponent."

After a moment of silence, Officer Jenny nodded. "Alright then."

She handed over the paper back to her subordinate, and then turned towards the girls again. She stared at them for a while, making them somewhat uncomfortable. Just as the two girls were about to excuse themselves, the officer spoke again. "That reminds me: where did you actually come here from?"

Cass pointed towards the closet. The officer turned towards it and noticed a rather huge, rectangular hole cut in the right bottom. "There's a slide there that takes you to the Lumiose sewer system."

The police officers were taken aback at her statement. " _Sewer_ system? Seriously?"

"As unbelievable as it sounds, yes," said Bonnie, nodding with a sigh. She looked at the time and saw that it was fifteen minutes to nine in the morning. She felt surprised. _Seems like that whole deal took quite a lot of time. We have to hurry or we might end up worrying the others._

It looked like Cass had noted that as well, as she said, "Don't worry, Officer Jenny. I will somehow convince her to come to the police station. We must leave now or the others will worry about us."

The officer nodded and the two left. Once they were out of their sight, they started flying with the help of their psychic power. They directly flew towards the direction of Lumiose City since they could see the Prism Tower from their height. It took them only about five minutes to reach the outskirts of the city where they landed, after making sure no one saw them. They decided to run the rest of the way to the Prism Tower. It was when they were halfway down the way that Max's voice interrupted them. They skidded down to a stop when they heard his voice in their heads.

 **"Bonnie! Cass!"**

 **"Where are you, Max?"** asked Bonnie, looking around.

 **"Look up."**

The two looked up and saw Max at the top of the building beside them. They waved back when the boy waved at them from there.

 **"Go in the alley behind you and fly up here. The building is abandoned so we'll be able to talk in peace."**

The two girls exchanged glances and then replied in the affirmative. Following his advice, they walked down the deserted alley and once out of sight of the main street, flew all the way up to the roof of the seventeen-storied building.

"I am pretty sure of their next target," said Max grimly.

"Serena, isn't it?" Max looked at the two, surprised. The girls looked back at him with a serious look in their eyes. "We overheard them back at the hut."

"Then, I take it Ash has gone to tell her," said Cass.

"I don't know if he's going to tell her," said Max seriously. "He told me he was going to beef up the security as well as start training her seriously."

"How did you find out about their next target?" asked Bonnie curiously.

"Ash noticed the fake Ace and we followed them until this alley," explained Max. "They had a barrier put up there so nothing could enter there. We could only watch as they walked out of sight. One of them – I don't know his name – was a pro at using aura. It was easy to tell that from the barrier. If only there wasn't anyone, we could have tried to force our way through – though it seemed pretty much impossible."

"Do you know where they came from?" asked Cass, knowing that Bonnie was thinking of the same thing as her.

"Unfortunately, no," replied Max with a sigh. "We only noticed them when we almost reached the hospital, after giving that bullet to Clemont to check."

"That's too bad," muttered Bonnie thoughtfully. "Did you find anything else?"

"Yeah, we found where the bullet was shot from," replied Max. "There were some used up cartridges there as well."

"Not really much to go on…" sighed Cass.

"What about you two?" asked Max, looking at the two alternately.

The two girls took turns to explain everything that had transpired since they separated. It took quite a while and by the time, they finished the second match of that day had already started. Max looked thoughtful when they finished.

"So, now Sadie is here as well? Won't that mean Jake is here as well?" asked Max, looking back at them.

Bonnie shrugged her shoulders. "We won't know until we ask Sadie. What do you say – should we talk to her now?"

"I think we should talk to her after our match tomorrow," said Cass thoughtfully. "So that, it won't matter even if they hold onto her."

"Well, if that's the case, what should we do now?" asked Max, lying down on his back, relaxing a bit.

"Help me train," said Cass at once, getting up. "I at least need to do some training for my match tomorrow. I want to win as well, you know."

"Not again!" exclaimed Max, feeling annoyed.

"Why not?" asked Cass, surprised.

"I guess he must be annoyed because he had to help me train as well," said Bonnie with a smirk.

"Of course!" said Max. "Why do you two have to drag me into this as well? You used to do the same when we travelled through Sinnoh."

"Well, if you don't want us to drag you, join us. We'll be waiting at the same battlefield," said Bonnie, getting up and dusting herself off. She looked around the dusty rooftop. "By the way, how come did you end up here?"

"I decided to fly and see from above where those four went," said Max, getting up as well. "But it wasn't any use. They just climbed down the manhole in the center of the alley. And I saw you two running towards the Prism Tower at the same time, so I called you."

"Alright, let's go now!" shouted Cass as she started jumping from building to building. "Bonnie, show me the way to the battlefield you trained!"

The two caught up to her and the three went together to the field where Bonnie had trained. They reached there in less than ten minutes. Cass released her Pyroar against Bonnie's Snover that she had caught in Sinnoh. Just as they were about to start, some bushes to their side rustled and a person appeared. All three of their eyes widened at her sight.

"Sadie?!"


	9. Friendly Rivalries

Chapter 9: 'Friendly' Rivalries

"Ladies and gentlemen! Today is the third day of the Champions' League!"

Everyone cheered as the loudspeaker blared everything that the announcer said. Bonnie and Max wished Cass and Ash luck as the two left. The first match was Cass's while Ash's match was right after her. After the two left, Max and Bonnie went to the VIP box where the rest of their friends were sitting. Everyone was there except May who was watching the tournament on the television. Max thought that she would be fine since Ace's match was already done, so she wouldn't have to see him.

"The first match for today is Cassandra vs. Sadie!"

The two girls walked out to the battlefield amidst the audience's deafening cheers as Max and Bonnie watched with everyone else from the VIP seats. They had already told them about their encounter with Sadie so all of them knew where she had disappeared three years ago.

She and Jake had gone to different but remote places to escape the police's clutches. Back then, they already knew about the Champions' League so they had decided to train to take part in the league, hoping that the police would give up searching. They hadn't been completely successful though since the police found them and after serving a one-year sentence, they were released.

Free from the burden, they had since been training to win the league. She hadn't told them why they wanted to win nor did she say where Jake was for some reasons she couldn't or didn't want to explain so none of the three, who had been talking to her, asked her about it. Right now, they were focusing on the match between their friend and their acquaintance.

Neither Cass nor Sadie spoke anything as they released their pokémon from their pokéballs. Cass released her Absol while Sadie released her Rhyhorn. The two pokémon stared at each other, waiting for their trainers to call their attacks. It only took a moment for Cass to see that the Rhyhorn knew aura attacks, much like her pokémon – as unbelievable as it seemed. Training your pokémon to use their aura wasn't an easy task so Cass knew that her opponent had really trained hard to unlock this potential. She knew this wasn't going to be an easy fight.

 _Maybe, I should start with a weaker move just to see the Rhyhorn's response time?_ Cass thought. "Alright, Absol! Future Sight!"

Absol roared as five wormholes appeared around him. He formed five orbs of electrified psychic energy and shot them through the wormholes. As soon as the wormholes closed, five new ones opened right near Rhyhorn's face and the psychic energy hit him exactly on his horn. Rhyhorn skidded back due to the force but he looked relatively fine.

Cass looked at Sadie and noticed her thoughtful expression. It was apparent to her that she had figured out what exactly had happened. Deciding to test it, she ordered the same move again. This time, after the wormholes closed, nothing happened.

Sadie and Cass exchanged glances for a moment as the audience wondered what was going on.

"Alright, Stone Edge!" Sadie yelled, just as the wormholes opened around Rhyhorn. By that time, though, Rhyhorn had already formed the light blue orbs. The psychic energy hit the light blue orbs keeping Rhyhorn from getting any damage.

Cass smirked, knowing that she was right. "Dark Pulse!"

"Smack Down!" Everyone watched as the orange orb from Smack Down hit Dark Pulse head-on, covering the battlefield in smoke.

"Dodge it, Rhyhorn!" Rhyhorn appeared out of the smoke just as the black-and-purple spiral shot out of the smoke and hit the wall beyond Sadie, making the wall explode in pieces. Everyone gaped at the power while the smoke dissipated, revealing both the pokémon to be unhurt.

Just to be safe, the league officials quickly asked the audience in the front to move back a few seats, and they themselves stood there just in case something happened.

"I think you figured out, right?" asked Sadie, smirking at Cass. Cass returned her smirk. "Well then…"

"Earthquake!" Sadie shouted. On the cue, Rhyhorn jumped in the air – almost ten feet, making all the watchers gape at his strength. When Rhyhorn landed, not only did the whole battlefield shake but large cracks appeared in it as well – even though it was specially made to be able to withstand all the forces.

But even before Rhyhorn had landed, Cass had already commanded her next move. "Double Team; jump in the air!"

As soon as Rhyhorn landed, Sadie ordered the next move. "Smack Down again!"

The orange orbs formed in a circle around Rhyhorn and then, almost immediately shot at all the falling Absols, taking the copies out together. But none of them was the real one. Sadie clicked her tongue in annoyance only to see Absol, standing in front of Rhyhorn, seemingly unhurt.

"Rock Tomb!" yelled Sadie, not wanting to give Cass a chance. Rhyhorn roared as multiple glowing white rocks formed around him. He, then, aimed at Absol and shot those rocks at them. The rocks came at blinding speed towards Absol.

But Cass was ready. "Slash them all! Then use Aura Sphere!"

The whole stadium was confused when she commanded an aura sphere. After all, how could a dark-type pokémon use an aura-related move? Nevertheless, they watched as Absol ran towards Rhyhorn with his claws glowing white, continuously slashing all the rocks thrown at him and dodging those that he couldn't cut. Just as he cut the last rock that had been coming at him head-on, right after it, he was greeted with Rhyhorn's menacing horn.

"Tackle," said Sadie simply, with a small smile.

Rhyhorn hit Absol right in his chest, stopping him from completely landing on the ground. The sudden force threw Absol right up to the edge of the battlefield. Cass clicked her tongue in annoyance when she realized how easily she got carried away with her move.

"Are you okay, Absol?" She asked, as Absol got up and shook his head. The Disaster Pokémon nodded at his trainer and then turned back to face his opponent. "Psycho-Cut!"

Absol jerked his head and released a purple crescent-shaped energy blade at the Rhyhorn with astonishing speed.

"Dodge it, quick!" Sadie yelled a bit alarmed, when she noticed how sharp the blade was.

Rhyhorn dodged it just barely. The blade managed to scratch the iron-hard plates of Rhyhorn and even cut a few blood vessels underneath as Rhyhorn grunted in pain. The blade didn't stop there and continued with almost the same speed and passed right through the broken wall beyond Sadie, leaving just a clean cut in the wall.

The audience gaped at the sharpness of the blade as did everyone watching from the VIP seats – except Max and Bonnie as well as Ace, who was sitting on one of the tall floodlights of the stadium. The three already knew how strong Cass was, so they didn't find it surprising.

"Just how sharp was that blade?" asked Ash, turning to look at his friends. They returned his shocked glances. "I mean, it cut right through the thick stadium walls as well as the Rhyhorn's hard plates as well."

"Who knows… just how strong she is…" muttered Cilan, staring at Cass who didn't seem to think that it was out of the ordinary.

"She's pretty much a monster if she's that strong," said Iris, gaping at her.

"What makes you think that?" Everyone turned to look at Max who glanced back at them. "That isn't even her strongest pokémon, and she hasn't even mega-evolved him yet."

All of their jaws dropped on hearing that.

"So which is her strongest pokémon?" asked Gary tentatively, not sure if he wanted to hear an answer.

"Greninja," answered Bonnie, looking back at them. "And she can do the same thing like you do with your Greninja, Ash."

"You mean that synchronization thing?" asked Ash incredulously. He got two nods in response.

"I wouldn't be surprised if she gave Paul a run for his money," said Max, looking at the silent guy who still didn't show any expression.

The statement made their minds run a mile a minute. They knew that Paul was just a little behind Ash when it came to battling, and he had also won one of the leagues but had declined the offer to take the title of the champion. They hadn't seen him battle since but they knew he must have grown stronger. And even after all of that, if Cass could give him a run for money then she must be crazy strong.

"Then what about you two?" asked Misty, looking at the two.

"I guess we must be around her level," replied Bonnie, after a bit of thought. "We never really battled to death, you know, to figure out who was the strongest of us three."

They gaped at her. They were about to ask something else but decided to focus on the match for the moment.

"I knew you were strong but this is crazy," said Sadie, looking behind her at the clean cut in the wall.

Cass scratched the back of her head awkwardly. "I guess I got too excited with the battle." She then, narrowed her eyes. "But now, I'm going to finish this in one move. Absol, aura sphere on the ground!"

Absol formed an aura sphere in front of his mouth, much to everyone's surprise, but then, it started shrinking in size, surprising the watchers even further. It shrunk and shrunk until it was the size of a mere pinhead. But it was still visible to everyone because of the immense amount of radiation coming from it, making it so bright that they couldn't directly look at it.

"Be ready, Rhyhorn," warned Sadie as Absol let the compressed aura sphere fall in one of the many cracks due to Rhyhorn's Earthquake.

Nothing happened for a second, but then, a sudden explosion occurred – right below Rhyhorn – and sent him flying almost thirty-feet into the air, shocking everyone. And then Rhyhorn fell down on the battlefield, knocked out and bleeding underneath.

"Wha-what just happened?" Sadie stuttered as Cass returned Absol with a sigh. Sadie returned Rhyhorn as well and handed it over to the doctors who had just walked on to the battlefield.

"I attacked your Rhyhorn's weak point," replied Cass, walking towards her after handing over the microphone to the referee. "The only problem was that there was no way I could do so without having the ground cracked. You made it easy for me when you used Earthquake."

Sadie sighed. "I should have known that when we battled yesterday."

"Also, can you come alone with me?" asked Cass as the two walked away from the battlefield, emptying it for the next match. "Officer Jenny wants to talk to you."

Sadie jerked her head towards her and studied her face for a while. "Why didn't you tell me yesterday?"

"I only found out when Bonnie told me about it today in the morning when we were training," said Cass, lying. She still didn't consider Sadie as a close friend and they hadn't told her what had been going on there so it seemed stupid to her to tell the truth right away. "You can ask Bonnie if you want."

"Oh alright," Sadie suddenly conceded. "I will get to the Police Station. So, you don't have to walk along with me."

Cass glanced sideways at the yellow-haired girl. "Alright!"

Just as she said that, the two heard the next match being announced. "You go ahead; I want to see this match."

Sadie nodded and Cass ran towards the VIP box, leaving her behind. It wasn't the best thing to do, but now that they knew she was in the tournament, she could easily find her again if the need be.

She soon reached to the VIP box and got access thanks to Bonnie, who was standing outside. Everyone congratulated her, making her embarrassed about her victory. They turned just as Ash released his pokémon. They waited for his opponent to release his pokémon but instead of that, he said two words, silencing the stadium.

"I forfeit."

Ash gaped, not being able to think anything at the moment. Did the guy just forfeit the match without a fight? When no one said anything, the referee spoke. "The match has been forfeited. The default winner is Ash Ketchum."

The audience started cheering at that. Ash returned his pokémon, looking disgruntled at not being able to fight. Nevertheless, he knew he would get to fight real soon so he cheered up just as quickly.

Seeing that there weren't any more interesting fights, Cass, Max and Bonnie left the stadium, wondering what they would do for the rest of the day.

"Did you talk to Sadie?" asked Bonnie, turning towards Cass.

"Yeah, I did," replied Cass. "She said she'd go to the police station. Want to check on her?"

"No need," replied Max, shaking his head. "Let's go talk to Ash. I want to know what he did, and can any of those four still attack."

Just as he said that, Ash appeared with Pikachu on his shoulder. He seemed a bit restless – apparently, from what had happened just now. He noticed the three and walked towards them at once.

Max raised an eyebrow at him. Ash looked around and then said, "Let's go to my room. We should be safe there."

Nodding, the three went outside while Ash went to the VIP box to get his belongings as well as tell the others that he had something to do. He soon joined the three waiting outside and they got into his personal car – thanks to his status – to ride all the way to his hotel. They didn't speak much on the way, hoping to get to Ash's room quickly. They soon reached there and Ash showed them the way to his room. Once they were all inside, they broke the silence.

"So far, everything seems alright," said Ash, looking at the three thoughtfully. Pikachu, who didn't know what had happened when Ash had left for his morning 'walk', looked at them alternately, confused and wondering what was going on. "I have improved the security, but haven't yet told Serena that she might be the next target. In fact, I'm wondering if I should really tell her the truth or not."

"You should," said Bonnie at once. "She will double her efforts in learning aura."

Ash sighed. "But I don't know how I should tell her…"

"Be blunt, I guess," said Max, shrugging his shoulders. He glanced back indifferently at Ash as Ash contemplated what he should do.

After a while of silence, Ash sighed. "I guess I will tell her. It's better than her finding out later."

"What did Clemont say about that bullet?" asked Bonnie, turning towards Max.

"I don't know; I haven't talked to him yet," said Max thoughtfully. "He should be done by now."

"Let's see. I will call him," said Bonnie, taking out her Holo Caster and placing a call.

Clemont picked up the call on the third ring. He seemed busy, they noted, noticing the microscope and all the other instruments behind him.

"What is it?" asked Clemont, looking tiredly at them.

"What happened with the bullet?" asked Max, looking over Bonnie's shoulder.

"I already tried about twenty different tests," said Clemont, looking behind him at all the instruments. "Everything suggests that it is an unused bullet. The only thing is there is no charge in it. That is the only thing that makes me think that it might have been coated with something but even after all the tests that I did, it doesn't seem like there's any coating on it."

"Alright, thanks!" said Max as Bonnie disconnected the call. "What do you make of it?"

"The only other thing that seems possible is aura but I don't know how you could use it like that," said Cass.

"My thoughts exactly," agreed Bonnie. "That's what I have been trying to figure out."

Before the conversation could continue, another ringing interrupted. Cass picked up her Holo Caster. It was Officer Jenny on the other end. "Thanks for sending her here. We are done with her and she's free now."

Cass nodded and disconnected the call. "Seems like Sadie did go there after all."

"Alright then," said Max, getting their attention. "Let's go to train! Cass and Bonnie will help me!"

"Why not me?" asked Ash, looking miffed.

"I am not going to let you see me training since I intend to defeat you in the league," said Max, looking at him with a smirk.

Ash smirked back. "Let's see how you defeat me."

With that, the three left the room, leaving Ash to think to himself. Just as he decided to leave as well, his Holo Caster rang. Clicking his tongue in annoyance, he saw that it was Charles Goodshow, The President of the Champions' League. It was his family that had created the league system as they knew it today. Wondering why he would need to call him, Ash picked up.

"Now do you see why I told you to directly participate in the Quarter Finals?" He asked with a laugh, getting straight to the point.

Ash sighed. "Yeah, I do. How come you called me though? You rarely ever do that, if at all."

"Well, it seems like some bad things have been going on around here right now," said Goodshow in a serious tone.

"Like?" prompted Ash, although he already knew where this was going.

"Like women getting kidnapped, and being found either with more than 50 percent burns or in almost half-dead condition – as if they have been put through a lot of torture," said Goodshow grimly. "Some of them even seemed to have been abused and raped, it seems."

"And I should go and investigate this?" Goodshow nodded. Ash nodded back. "Alright, I will."

The call was disconnected. Ash stared at the Holo Caster in his hand with his mind running a mile a minute, trying to comprehend the whole situation. After a while, he decided to sleep on it that night and left the hotel for the stadium to watch the rest of the matches.

Nothing extraordinary happened that day as everyone went to their beds peacefully. But Bonnie had a bad feeling about it.

* * *

Somewhere in Kanto, police officers were running around panicked in one of the tightest security prisons.

"Did you find him?" One of them yelled to the other who was running in the opposite direction.

"No!" The other yelled back as he went off towards the main office. He slammed open the door to the main office and turned towards the head warden. "Seems like he escaped. Everyone is combing the surrounding forest and sea but so far, nothing has been found."

The head warden clicked his tongue in annoyance. "That Giovanni!"

In the meantime, high up in the air, an invisible ship was floating around silently as people aboard the ship watched the police officers frantically combing the land below.

"The plan was successful," one of the people watching from the cockpit said, smirking. He turned back where the main seat was located and asked, "Should we continue to Kalos, boss?"

The boss, Giovanni, nodded. "Has everything been going on as planned?"

"Yeah. Pete is looking for a woman to hold that entire aura now. We already found a way to infuse men with the aura and we even cloned a person whose body could sustain that aura. Now, we are trying to find another container for the remaining aura – preferably a woman, so that their kid will be probably the strongest."

"How long until that happens?" asked Giovanni, stroking his Persian after having missed doing so during the last three years.

"We are still testing women but at the Champions' League, we intend to find the perfect woman. The only obstacle so far is that the clone we had made to contain that aura escaped."

Giovanni gave the scientist, who was reporting, a steely look. "Kill him the moment you find him."

"We found him alright, boss," the scientist said at once. "He's a participant at the league so he will easily get to the finals. We intend to finish up the remaining part until then so we'll capture him right then."

"Good," said Giovanni, getting back to stroking his Persian.

"Also, we intend to use him to finish off Ash Ketchum, since he's a participant as well."

"Even better," said Giovanni, with a smirk. "Seems like you really did well when I wasn't around."

The scientist thanked him and excused himself. Giovanni seemed thoughtful as he looked out the windscreen of the ship he was in. After a while, he smirked to himself and returned back to stroking his Persian.

* * *

"Today is my match finally," muttered Max as he entered the stadium. He thanked Cass and Bonnie, who had wished him luck, as he went ahead. As soon as he entered backstage, he felt a push and turned around instantly to see who the one who pushed him was.

He was greeted with a familiar face. "Yo Max!"

Max sweat-dropped at the sight of the coordinator in front of him. "Hey, Cole."

"This time, I will beat you!" Cole shouted, pointing at him and attracting a lot of attention as well.

Max sighed in annoyance. Cole was a coordinator they had met while travelling in Hoenn. He had travelled with them until the first contest venue. During that time, he seemed to have developed a crush on Bonnie. Bonnie, on the other hand, never seemed to view him more than a friend. For some reason, he thought that Bonnie directed her attention more to Max than him, which Max had dismissed that as an illusion. But Cole didn't seem to believe it and whenever they were alone, he kept on challenging him to battle which Max didn't give in to. But that too was getting on his nerves now since whenever they met, it was the same scenario all over again.

Max had said as much to Bonnie who had replied that she knew what was going on but didn't want to say anything until Cole was frank about it to her. But when Max told Cole to be frank, his confidence seemed to dilute to the point he couldn't even imagine seeing that happen. And so, Max was stuck dealing with this until hopefully, Cole gained enough confidence to admit to Bonnie that he liked her.

"What makes you think beating me will get you Bonnie's attention?" asked Max calmly.

"It is obvious, isn't it?" retorted Cole. "Most of the girls like strong guys and guys who can take care of themselves, right?"

 _Well, Bonnie isn't most of the girls,_ would have been Max's reply if the announcer hadn't interrupted. Everyone turned to look at the screen as he welcomed the audience and started with the first match of the day – which happened to be Cole's match.

Max watched as Cole walked out to the battlefield. As he walked, he looked around the stadium. Any person who didn't know him would think that he was just overwhelmed at the size of the crowd. But Max knew better – he was probably searching for Bonnie since he was there.

* * *

Cass turned to look at Bonnie, who had clicked her tongue in annoyance. "What happened?"

"That guy," she said, pointing at Cole. "He annoys me."

Cass raised an eyebrow at her. "Did you meet him while travelling?"

"Yeah, in Hoenn," replied Bonnie. "Apparently, he has a crush on me."

Cass whistled in admiration. "I didn't know you had guys following you around."

"Well, it's not like that," said Bonnie, shrugging her shoulders. "I know many guys do check me out when they notice me, but they either forget about me or go ahead and ask me out, albeit diffidently."

Cass elbowed her, grinning. "I didn't you were that popular."

Bonnie chuckled. "I didn't know either until they started asking me out."

"So what do you usually reply?" asked Cass, shaking her head.

"I had always said no, so far," said Bonnie, frowning a bit. "It's hard to hide the fact that I'm just thirteen yet."

"It must be, certainly," said Cass, glancing at Bonnie's chest briefly.

"Don't. It embarrasses me," said Bonnie, looking a bit red.

Cass shook her head. "It's not like you wanted that to happen. But I can't help feeling a bit envious." Seeing that Bonnie didn't want to talk about that, she changed the subject. She motioned towards Cole who seemed to be focused on his battle. "So what about him annoys you?"

Bonnie glanced back at him thoughtfully. "It's not like I hate him or something. It's just that he's so diffident about himself at certain times that I wonder what he had to deal with in his childhood. I mean, something must have happened that made him so unsure of himself, right?"

"I get what you mean," said Cass, turning to look back at the battle. She had had a fear of fire-types but her friends and her Lilteo – now evolved into Pyroar – both had helped her overcome the fear when they had travelled through Sinnoh. So, she could understand if Cole had gone through something that made him so hesitant about things.

"Well, what about you?" asked Cass, turning back to Bonnie. "Who do you like?"

Bonnie looked thoughtful. After a while of silence, she replied, "I haven't really thought about it but right now, I don't think I really like anyone in that way."

"Not even Max?" prompted Cass, smirking at her friend.

"You're still going on about that?" said Bonnie, though she couldn't help feeling embarrassed as she recalled what had happened. "I don't like him that way."

"Sure you don't," said Cass knowingly.

"That's enough about me," said Bonnie, turning to look at her friend. "What about you? You probably do have someone you like, right?"

"Nope, I don't," replied Cass promptly. "I am only, like, a year older than you. What makes you think I'd get a boyfriend so soon when I haven't even _grown_ yet."

"Just shut up," snapped Bonnie, fed up of the whole topic. She knew she wasn't going to hear the end of it any time soon but there was nothing she could do about it.

"Hey, girls!"

The two turned around to see Ash walking up to them, with Serena behind him, looking worried. "Will you help us? I told Serena about it."

"Sure. Why not?"

"Then help me train her at least enough so that she knows how to defend herself."

Nodding, the four left the stadium altogether and stood outside for a moment.

"So… what now?" asked Serena, knowing that she was in for a brutal amount of training.

"Let's go somewhere where no one would see us," said Cass, glancing at Bonnie who knew what she was talking about.

"Where do we go then?" asked Ash, ready to do anything to keep Serena safe. Since she was the target at first, he wanted her to learn about aura first to be able to defend herself while the others could learn it later.

"Can you run, like, about 3 miles or so?" asked Bonnie, directing her question at Serena.

"I think I can," replied Serena but it was obvious she seemed a bit unsure.

Both Bonnie and Cass noticed her uncertainty and exchanged glances. This was going to take a lot of time.

The next half an hour was spent by the two urging Serena on along with Ash, who had decided he wanted to train as well to keep everyone safe. Serena seemed to have underestimated the distance when she stopped for a moment to catch her breath. The remaining three stopped as well.

"Come on, Serena! We haven't even reached the half-mark yet," said Bonnie, checking her Holo Caster for the time. "You only have, like, a couple of days at most."

"I… know…," gasped Serena, panting loudly. "It's just that this is a drastic change from the life I'd become used to."

The two girls diverted their attention from the honey-blonde to her boyfriend, who shrugged his shoulders. Seeing the response, they sighed and waited for her to catch her breath. It took a few more minutes after which, they started. People stared at them, gaping as they saw the two girls running with the two of the most popular trainers in the Pokémon world. Whispers broke out after they left: making everyone wonder what the heck was going on.

It took them another fifteen minutes before they reached the clearing where they had been training. Serena plopped down in the soft grass, trying to catch her breath while Ash didn't seem too tired. The two girls weren't even sweating at all.

"Where's Pikachu?" asked Bonnie, looking at Ash as they waited for Serena to catch her breath.

"I left him with Brock," replied Ash, giving a surprised glance to the blonde girl. "Why do you ask?"

"I thought it would help you if you trained with your pokémon," said Bonnie, turning towards Serena.

Serena nodded and produced a pokéball. The pokémon inside was her partner, Braixen. Braixen seemed surprised at being called out but she recognized Bonnie and seemed happy to see her. Dedenne, too, popped out of his bag to talk with his close friends and seemed energetic at seeing them after such a long time. They let the pokémon do as they wanted while they waited for Serena to recuperate. Soon enough, she was ready to go and they called their pokémon back.

"Before we start, let's call Pikachu," said Bonnie, giving Ash a questioning look. Ash nodded at once. Bonnie picked up Dedenne in one hand and once he was ready, threw him straight up in the air.

Dedenne went up quite high and when he reached the highest point, used Charge Beam – or that was what it seemed to Ash – straight towards the direction of Lumiose City. The electricity zapped so quickly across the sky that no one could follow it directly with their eyes.

"Alright, now that that is done," said Bonnie, turning towards the couple as Dedenne fell from the sky. "Let's start with, say… two hundred push-ups."

Ash and Serena just stood there for a moment, wondering if they had heard right. Did Bonnie just say _two hundred_ push-ups?

"And follow it by about fifty laps around this clearing," added Cass, motioning towards the open space. Ash and Serena looked and almost cursed at the size of the clearing – it was about the size of a battlefield and they knew a battlefield was, by no means, small.

They turned back towards the two girls and gave them questioning glances, as if to repeat their instructions. The two noticed their glances and nodded at once. "We'll be training along with you. Our pokémon will train yours at the same time."

The two at once started doing their push-ups and seeing them, Ash and Serena started as well. In the meantime, their pokémon went on the far side of the clearing to train. The training went on silently… for about five minutes. Five minutes later, Serena plopped down on the ground, unable to continue. Ash, too, seemed tired and it looked like his willpower was the only thing supporting him. Cass and Bonnie, on the other hand, didn't look tired at all but they were sweating – so much that the ground underneath them was wet.

"Come on, Serena, that won't do," said Cass, getting her attention. "You only managed until thirty or so, right?"

"Thirty-five," she replied miserably, looking too tired to continue.

"Well, try again after some rest," replied Bonnie, getting up and taking a deep breath. "I am going for my fifty laps."

"Me too," said Cass, getting up and following Bonnie, who had already started off. With that Ash and Serena were left alone.

Ash plopped down soon after they left and panted loudly, too tired to even speak. When he managed to catch his breath a few minutes later, he spoke. "Are those two even humans? I barely managed to complete a hundred!"

"Come on, now, if you're done resting, start running with us!"

The two turned to see Bonnie and Cass jogging towards them. They were slowly but surely increasing their pace as they jogged. Bonnie motioned them to run as they went ahead for their second lap.

"Go ahead, Serena," said Ash, turning towards his girlfriend. "This is more necessary for you than it is for me."

For a moment, Serena contemplated if she should argue but then decided against it. Nodding, she got up and taking a deep breath, started running. By that time, the two girls had already reached the opposite end where their pokémon were training. After her first lap was done, Ash joined her as well.

The next hour passed silently as they focused on just running. Cass and Bonnie were already done by the time half an hour had passed, and now, they were waiting for Ash and Serena to finish up their laps. Both of them dropped down as soon as they were done, barely being able to keep up.

"What… now…?" asked Ash, not even letting himself catch his breath. Serena seemed too tired to even look at them. The girls glanced at them and decided unanimously to let them rest. It was already past one in the afternoon by then. They quickly ate up and rested for an hour before the two girls decided to get into training again.

"Where's Pikachu though?" asked Ash, looking around. "Didn't he arrive yet?"

"Oh, I thought you had noticed," said Cass, looking surprised. "We already sent him to our pokémon to train him."

Ash looked surprised but didn't say anything related to it. "So, what are we going to do now?"

"Just sit here with your eyes closed and try to focus your aura," replied Bonnie, getting up and stretching herself. "Do you know what type you are?"

"Type?" asked Serena, confused.

"You don't know your types either?" asked Cass, turning towards them.

"Alright, don't confuse us. What do you mean by types?" asked Ash, sounding a bit frustrated.

"Aura has five different types: Air, Fire, Earth, Water, Lightning," explained Bonnie. "For example, my aura is lightning type."

As she said that, she brought her two index figures together and then kept them apart a few centimeters, focusing in between them. A second later, a small aura sphere formed that distorted into a long beam between her fingers. Another second later, the aura instead of being stable, started crackling like a small lightning bolt. Bonnie then stopped focusing and turned towards the couple who were watching it all, fascinated.

"Saw that?" asked Bonnie. She then pointed at Cass. "She's water type."

As if to show, Cass formed a small aura sphere in the palm of her hand. The aura sphere glowed like usual, but after a while, the glow disappeared and Ash and Serena gaped to see a sphere of water floating in her hand instead.

"Taste it," said Cass, bringing the water sphere close to them. Ash and Serena did and it tasted sweet. They looked back just in time to see the color of the water deepen slightly. When Cass urged again, they tasted it and this time, the water was so salty that they had to spit it out. "See?"

"And Max has earth-type aura," said Bonnie. She kept from mentioning Ace since she knew they would get angry, and it was better to avoid needless arguments. "You should try and figure out what type you are. That will help you train that aspect of your aura faster."

"But how do you figure it out?" asked Ash curiously.

After a bit of thought, Cass spoke. "Try changing the property of your aura. That's the only way I can explain it. You know how you can change the shape of you aura, right?"

"You _can_ change shape of aura?" asked Ash, surprised. The two girls sighed at him.

"Like this," said Cass, creating another aura sphere in her hand. The sphere then flattened out into a disk that spun so rapidly, Ash as well as Serena could feel the air heating up around its edge. Then, Cass added some more aura and turned the flat disc into a long cylindrical rod just a bit larger than her height. She spun it over her head and then hit the tree behind her, breaking it right there into two pieces. Ash and Serena gaped at that as Cass brought the rod in front of them again. Then, she reduced the aura in the upper part of the rod and changed it shape to a hammer. Using the hammer, she hit the fallen tree and broke it again into two more pieces. "See?"

"You can also do this," said Bonnie, getting the couple's attention before they could ask another question. She formed an aura sword in her hand and then, it started fading until it disappeared.

"Do you see anything?" She asked, holding out her hand as if she was still holding the sword. When the two nodded, Bonnie suddenly raised her arm and then brought it down in a flash. For a moment, nothing happened, but then Ash felt the cool air against his torso. He looked down and gawked as he saw his current shirt split cleanly into two with _absolutely none_ frayed edges.

"What… did you just do?" He asked, giving Bonnie a shocked look.

"See closely," replied Cass, pointing just a bit further ahead of Bonnie's hand. A careful scrutiny revealed a barely visible bluish glow that looked like the edge of a sword. It was just barely visible to them. Ash brought his finger and lightly touched the blue edge and almost immediately, felt a stinging sensation in his finger. He checked and saw blood dripping out of his finger.

"This edge is sharp enough to cut almost everything except diamond," stated Bonnie, making the invisible sword disappear. "It is just about fifty microns thick at the moment. I am still training to sharpen it down to just a few nanometers so it can cleanly cut through anything without that thing even realizing that it was cut."

Ash and Serena could only gaze in shock for some time. Then, they snapped out of their stupor.

"So, we won't train for our types until we learn to change its shape?" asked Serena, a bit tentatively. "I can barely keep an aura sphere longer than a minute."

"That's right," said Cass, nodding. "You won't be able to figure out your type, until you know how it _feels_ to shape your aura. And that's what you are going to train right now."

"Man, this is going to be hard," muttered Ash with a sigh. He took a deep breath and started, determined to get this done by the end of the day.

They were about to start when the bushes rustled. They readied themselves as they waited for the person – or pokémon – to emerge. Max emerged out of the bushes mildly surprising them, and following him was…

 _Cole?_ Bonnie and Cass thought simultaneously. They glanced at each other as Cole avoided eye-contact for a while.

"Done already?" asked Bonnie, raising an eyebrow at Max.

Max nodded. "He was too easy to beat. Not that I really care. Anyway, we have got an old friend meeting up with us again."

"Long time no see, Cole," said Bonnie, with a rather sweet smile.

Cole felt tongue-tied for a moment, before he greeted with a 'Hey!'. It was only then that his gaze landed on Ash and Serena. His eyes went wide as saucers before he raced and started shaking Serena's head intensely. "Serena Ketchum, I am a big fan of yours!"

There was an awkward silence for a good long while as Serena, and then, Ash went red. The other three struggled to control their mirth as they saw the dating couple's embarrassed expression. Controlling himself, Max got Cole's attention. "They aren't married yet, you know."

"What are you talking about?" asked Cole, pulling out his Holo Caster – they had become pretty common than they used to be three years ago. He tapped here and there and opened a website. "See this."

All of them gathered over to him and read what the page showed:

 _"Rumour has it that Ash and Serena, the most popular trainers in the world, are going to marry. One of our reputed sources said, 'Ash Ketchum is going to propose to the Kalos Queen, Serena after he wins the Champions' League. He has planned everything out ever since the date of the Champions' League was declared.'"_

None of them could read any further as Max, followed by Bonnie, and then Cass, burst into laughter while Ash and Serena went completely red.

"Well, it might be true that they are going to marry, but they sure as hell haven't decided anything," said Max, laughing. "I don't think they even have crossed the line yet."

"Shut up, Max!" shouted Ash frustrated. Max could only laugh while Ash sighed. "Who the hell said I was planning to marry? It's too damn early!"

The three had calmed down by now while Cole just looked confused, feeling like he was missing some kind of internal joke.

"You should be used to it by now," said Cass, shaking her head. "Rumours are bound to spread once you become famous. You can't deny that your fans are interested in your personal life."

"I guess so," said Serena with a sigh. "I hate it really though."

"Um, can I get your autograph?" asked Cole shyly with his hand inside his bag – apparently, holding a book.

Serena glanced at him for a moment, making him a bit uncomfortable. Then, she smiled. "Sure!"

"Thanks a lot!" said Cole, excitedly as he handed over the book. When he got the book back, it seemed like he was on cloud nine. The girls couldn't help but chuckle while the boys shook their heads.

"Anyway, how come you are here?" asked Max, getting their attention. "Training?"

They nodded. "We were just about done," replied Bonnie.

Ash was surprised and was about to say it out loud when he suddenly heard Bonnie's voice in his head. **"Don't! Cole doesn't know we can use aura so it's better to not let him know."**

For a moment, Ash just stood there, wondering if what he had heard was really true. He, first glanced at Serena, who looked just as surprised – apparently, she had heard Bonnie's voice in her head as well – and then glanced at Bonnie, who gave a shake of her head.

"Well, if you're done, we should go," said Max, jerking with his thumb back towards Lumiose City.

"Yeah. Just let us call our pokémon back," said Cass. She took a deep breath, and seeing that, Max and Bonnie put their fingers into their ears, motioning to others to do so as well. They did and the next moment, they were glad they did so.

Cass gave such a shrill and loud whistle, they were pretty sure half of the Kalos region must have heard her. She whistled for about ten seconds and then stopped. A few moments later, their pokémon all appeared. They quickly returned them to their pokéballs, packed up and left the clearing.

"How about all of you come to my home for dinner?" asked Bonnie as they walked.

"Sure, why not?" replied Ash when she mentioned food. "I could make do with a large dinner worth ten people!"

It was obvious he was exaggerating but they chuckled nonetheless.

"I will help you in the kitchen," volunteered Serena, but got almost immediately shot down by Bonnie.

"No, you two are guests at my home, so I will be the one making the food," she replied. She then grinned. "I don't mind, though, if Max helps me."

"Why me?" complained Max, while Cole couldn't help feeling jealous.

"Well, you can cook food well and you are a great help in the kitchen," replied Bonnie with a smile. "Of course, Cass is going to be there as well, right?"

"Obviously," said Cass, with a jerk of her head. "It's not even a question worth asking!"

Ash chuckled, and after a while, laughed. "Alright then, we are in your care."

As they walked, Cole caught up with Max, who was walking alone, behind the couple but ahead of the girls. Max felt him coming up and sighed to himself, knowing where this was going to go. And sure enough, Cole kept on bothering him for the next hour while he tried to not get angry at the guy. He somehow managed to keep calm until they reached her home.

Bonnie was about to put her key into the lock when the door suddenly opened and revealed Clemont, looking tired and worn-out as well as anxious. It was obvious to those who knew him well. Without a word, all of them filed into the drawing room. Cass and Cole, both felt uncomfortable at the sudden change in mood of the party as they, too, sat down and waited to see what happened.

"First," said Clemont, getting straight to the point. He brought out the bag containing the bullet and the cartridges that Ash and Max had retrieved the previous morning. "I still can't figure out what to make of this. But one thing is for sure: this bullet – or any of the other bullets – weren't coated with any kind of chemicals. It might have been coated with aura but I can't say for sure."

He paused for a moment. Bonnie observed for a while and then said, "This isn't the bad news, right? What is it?"

Clemont nodded, indicating that Bonnie was right. "The bad news is… well, really bad. Officer Jenny told me this morning during the lunch-time."

Judging from his tone, it was obvious that whatever it was, it was going to give them a shock. And, it did.

"Giovanni escaped from the prison, and he's out to get you, Ash."


	10. Battles and Training

Chapter 10: Battles And Training

"Well, that means we should focus more on training now," said Bonnie, getting everyone's attention. "I don't know why but I think Giovanni has something to do with all of this."

"I suppose you're right," said Ash, sighing. "He's such a pain in the ass."

He got up along with others and stretched his body a bit. Nodding at Clemont, who had given them the news, everyone left the house, forgetting the fact that they had gone there to eat.

"Um, who is Giovanni?" asked Cole tentatively, noticing the tense atmosphere. Everyone jerked their heads towards him, apparently, having forgotten there was someone who didn't know what had happened.

"He's Team Rocket's boss," replied Max, getting his attention. "Didn't you hear about the Team Rocket fiasco three years ago?"

"Oh yeah, I know that," said Cole, nodding. "But the news didn't say the name of the boss – either that, or I just didn't listen carefully."

"So now, we are going to have to deal with him as well?" asked Cass, raising an eyebrow at Ash who looked thoughtful.

After a while of pondering, he sighed in annoyance. "I don't think we have a choice. I have always been one of his targets so it doesn't surprise me one bit."

Cole noted how frustrated everyone – except Cass – looked. It was obvious to him that this Team Rocket was a problem that they had been trying to deal with for quite some time. He was about to ask for help when a loud growl broke the silence. Everyone turned towards Ash – Cole and Cass, shocked while the others, amused.

 _Some things never change._ Serena chuckled. "Let's go back to our hotel. I will make something for you to eat."

Ash scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Alright, let's go."

The two said goodbye and left the remaining four trainers to themselves. Not wanting to stay any longer, Cole decided to leave as well. He too left them, waving his arm as he ran towards the Pokémon Centre. Cass raised an eyebrow at the other two, as if asking them what to do now. The two exchanged glances and then, shrugged their shoulders.

The next four hours were spent exploring and showing the city to Cass since there wasn't much to do. It was eight in the evening when they returned back to Bonnie's home.

"Thanks a lot for showing me around," said Cass, smiling at the two.

"No problem," said Bonnie, walking up to the door. "Let's get something to eat."

The other two nodded and went inside. Their dinner was a relatively talkative event as they started discussing their next move. Once they decided, Cass and Max left after saying their goodbyes. By the time they left, it was already past eight-thirty in the evening. Cass quickly walked back to the Pokémon Centre while Max went to the hospital to see how his sister's condition was.

He silently entered the room where May was assigned to. As soon as he entered, he noticed his parents sleeping to the side. It was obvious that they needed it as they hadn't been sleeping peacefully for quite some time now. Beside them, May seemed to have just woken up for she had yawned when he had entered.

"Hey," whispered Max tentatively, getting her attention.

May jerked her head suddenly at the noise and her face broke out into a beaming smile when she saw Max. "Come here," she whispered back, motioning him over.

Max felt relieved to see his sister smile as he walked over to her. "Are you okay?"

"I am, thank you," replied May with a smile. "The doctors here are wonderful, and mom and dad really helped me through this. I'm glad I have such a supporting family."

She suddenly pulled Max in for a hug, taking him by surprise. "And thanks to you as well," she whispered in his ear, genuinely appreciative.

The statement seemed to have an effect on Max as he wrapped his arms around May and sniffled into the hug, thankful that his sister was okay. The hug lasted for a while, and then, Max finally let go of her, rubbing his eyes.

"I'm glad you're okay," he said, finally smiling. May smiled back.

"They said I should be fine by tomorrow," she said, getting his attention. "If I am, I will be joining you to see the matches tomorrow."

"Are you sure that's fine?" asked Max, immediately concerned. And it wasn't just the concern for his sister; he wasn't sure how she would react if she saw Ace again. They hadn't yet been told when their matches would be but there was still a chance that seeing Ace might trigger her terrible memories – even though it was the fake Ace's deed.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," said May, nodding. "I'm itching to get out of this bed."

Max smiled at her but didn't say anything. Just as it seemed like May wanted to talk about something, the door opened, revealing Bonnie. Bonnie seemed a bit surprised to see May looking good but she greeted her nonetheless and talked with her for a while. After that, she gestured Max to follow her. Curious, Max followed her until the two were outside the hospital.

"What happened?" asked Max curiously.

"Didn't you check May's aura?" asked Bonnie, raising an eyebrow at him.

Max shrugged his shoulders in response. "What's the need?"

"You'll understand when you see," replied Bonnie, pointing towards the direction of May's room.

Curious, Max used his aura vision to glance at May. He could see her aura easily but also noticed the slight amount of red aura that was in her earlier had increased somewhat. It was hard to tell from the distance, but it seemed like Bonnie wanted him to keep an eye on that. He turned towards her and nodded.

"Alright, I got it! See you later!"

Bonnie caught his arm just as he was about to run back in. He stopped and turned around only to have a small bag shoved into his face. He opened the bag and saw that it contained his pokéballs. He chuckled sheepishly and apologized. Bonnie waved away the apology with her hand and told him to keep an eye on that red aura inside May. He nodded and left her alone as he ran back inside.

Bonnie was thoughtful as she started walking back towards her home. She thought about everything that had been happening around the city ever since they arrived there. As she thought about the slum area behind the airport, something struck her as odd about it. She couldn't quite put her finger on it but she had that gut feeling that something wasn't quite right about that area. After a while of pondering, she decided to forget about it and have a good night's rest since the next round started the next day.

With that, she quickly ran the rest of the way home and after removing her street clothes, jumped into her bed. It didn't take her long to go to sleep.

* * *

Bonnie was rudely awakened from her sleep. She slowly opened her eyes, not quite sure what it was that had awoken her. She blinked for some time, trying to get some bearings. She slowly turned to her left and checked the time – two-fifteen a.m. Groaning to herself, she sat up and yawned. Feeling thirsty, she slowly got off her bed and dragged herself to the kitchen to get some water. That was when she suddenly felt a presence in her house.

Alert, she slowly turned towards the direction where she had felt the presence and activated her aura vision, just in time to see a person getting out of one of the windows to the rear of their house – the window opened in the dark alley behind her house. Wondering who had broken into the house, she quickly ran towards the window and peered out in the darkness, barely making out a hulking shadow running away from her.

Taking only her t-shirt with her, she jumped out of the window and ran after the fleeting shadow. She followed as the shadow ran through the alleys. It didn't take long for Bonnie to realize where the shadow was heading – towards the slums. She slowed down a bit and wore her t-shirt, regretting that she hadn't bothered to wear proper clothes, since it was quite windy that night. Shivering a bit, she ran the rest of the way towards the slums. As soon as she reached there, she was about to run right through the front when she noticed two figures standing near the entrance.

Skidding to a stop, she hid behind some bushes and slowly neared them. Once she was near enough to see and hear what was going on, she stopped and peered through the bushes. The identity of those two people left her slightly shocked – it was Ace and Giovanni. For a moment, she thought that it was the fake Ace, but after confirming the aura signature twice, it was quite obvious that it was the real Ace. She quietly listened to the conversation.

"This is my final order," said Giovanni, sounding frustrated. It was apparent that the conversation had been going on for quite some time.

"I still won't follow it," said Ace indifferently, not even bothering to look in the eye as he replied to the Rocket boss.

There was a pause as Giovanni contemplated what to do. After a while, he spoke. "Well, what would it take to convince you to follow my order?"

"Give me a satisfactory reason, and tell me what I get in return," replied Ace, turning towards him.

There was another pause as Giovanni stayed silent. After a while, he asked, "Well, what if we tell you the reason later?"

"I'm fine with that," replied Ace. "But if the reason doesn't satisfy me, I'll kill you. Not that it matters really, since I'll kill you anyway."

"Watch your mouth, you shithead."

It was then that Bonnie noticed another person standing behind Giovanni. Since it was so dark, it was really hard to make out any features of the man but it was obvious to her that that was the person she had been following just a little while ago.

"Who the fuck is he?"

Bonnie turned her attention back to the conversation as Ace snapped back at Giovanni. She watched as Giovanni smirked. "He's someone who believes in the future I behold and hence, he will help me do whatever the hell I want. And for your information, he's a lot stronger than you, Mr. Prototype. So you can get off your high horse."

"I doubt that," said Ace shortly. "Besides, why don't you ask him to do the job instead of whining in front of me? He's a lot stronger than me, isn't he?"

"I would if I could," replied Giovanni curtly. "He is too huge to be called a normal human. It'd blow our cover at once."

"Well then, how about my clone?" asked Ace, glancing between the hidden hulking figure and Giovanni.

"He's too naive," snapped Giovanni with suppressed anger. "He's too pathetic to be even called an aura user."

There was silence as Ace seemed to contemplate. After a while, he sighed. "Well, I'll think about it. If I were to kill him though, it won't be until when I fight him in the tournament. Don't expect me to make a move until then."

Giovanni nodded and left with the bulky person as Bonnie tried to make sense of what she had heard. _Who were they trying to kill? Ash... no doubt about it. They are after Ash. And if Ace decides to go through with the order, Ash's chances of staying alive would drop to zero. There was no way Ash would be able to escape once Ace decided to kill him. And if that's what is going to happen, I will have to train them. Maybe, I should get Max's help as well, along with Cass._

With that in mind, she started walking away from the location. But she was too occupied to realize that she had broken a twig while getting up. The noise easily carried through the silent force and Ace heard it. He turned towards the direction Bonnie was in. It wasn't until then that Bonnie felt someone staring into her soul. She froze and slowly turned to see Ace looking towards her. Deciding it was futile to avoid him, she walked out and faced him.

"So how long have you been listening?" asked Ace, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Just long enough to know that you're targeting Ash," replied Bonnie, looking him back in the eye.

"Well, it's not like I'm targeting him," said Ace, glancing away from her and starting to walk away. "I'm still wondering if it's worth it or not. So, I don't think you need to worry – not right now anyway."

With that, Ace left. Bonnie relaxed as he disappeared. After a bit of thought, she too started walking away from the slum. Just as she was about to enter the city again, she felt a really strange aura somewhere out in the forest. She could pinpoint in the direction the aura was but for some strange reason, the whole aura seemed dispersed, and what was more that the aura's colour was green, rather than the usual blue or red. She couldn't find the aura signature since she could just barely see it far away.

After pondering for a moment, she decided to investigate the aura, thinking that it would be a waste of time to go back and wear her usual street clothes. She quickly started running towards the aura source and after what seemed like miles in the dark, she finally came across a clearing which was half-covered with a lake. The whole area had a greenish tinge to it as Bonnie saw through her aura vision.

She looked around and soon saw a particularly large concentration of the green aura on a small stone that was projecting out of the ground right on the bank of the lake. She slowly approached it and was greeted by a dreadful sight. On the stone was her old friend, Squishy – as she called the Zygarde Core – and it was covered with patches that had wires inside them. She contained her urge to touch it and looked around the clearing and into the forest. There wasn't any other presence, and the wires from the patches didn't seem to go anywhere – they were just cut off after a little bit when she followed them.

Seeing that she was safe for the time being, she quickly tore off all the patches that were stuck to Squishy and held it close to her body, surprised how cold it was. Squishy barely moved and opened his eye only slightly to see her.

"Hey," whispered Bonnie, just loud enough for it to hear her. Squishy seemed to recognize her as it slowly snuggled into her arm while she held it. She let him be there as she tried to figure out what was happening to the Zygarde Core. It felt way too cold to be normal so there must have been something that could have happened to make it this cold.

She looked around with her aura vision and realized that the whole clearing was filled with too much green aura. The quantity was so much that Bonnie felt suffocated for some time. That was when she realized that Squishy must have been drained of its aura. And the aura was strong and bright enough for her to be able to see it from as far away as she did.

Suddenly, the silence of the night was shattered by the sound of footsteps. Bonnie quickly jerked her head towards the source and noticed three distinct auras walking towards the clearing. They had just about reached the clearing so Bonnie didn't have the time to run away and hide into the bushes like she would have liked to. And she didn't dare teleport since teleporting generated a bright light. Plus, she would have to leave Squishy on the rock to avoid raising any kind of alarm. It pained her but she didn't have a choice.

She did the most logical thing that was possible in her situation. She quickly put Squishy on the stone and applied the patches as quickly as she could. By then, the three persons had almost reached the clearing. Not having a choice, Bonnie, since she had been just beside the lake, jumped in as quietly as she could. The cold water stung her warm body as she went below the surface, hoping that no one had seen her. She had jumped just in time for as soon as she went below the surface, the bushes parted to reveal three scientists.

Bonnie stayed just under the surface and slowly swam as near the projecting stone as she could without giving away her position. Once she was just under the stone, she popped her head out and hid beneath it, away from the three people's vision. She exhaled slowly as she listened to their conversation.

"Did anyone of you come here earlier?" One of them asked, glancing at the other two. The other two shook their heads. There was a bit of silence before the first scientist pressed a button on the Holo Caster he had with him. Not long after, about ten Team Rocket grunts arrived there.

"Comb the area around," the second scientist ordered, motioning with his hands. "Someone messed up with the experiment."

Bonnie hoped that she would be safe under the projecting rock but her hopes were dashed the next moment when a bright spot of light pierced the darkness and hit the water. Whoever was operating the light seemed adept at it, since the light quickly scanned each and every part of water and it focused more on the hidden parts where one of the grunts near it would peer into the water and then give a thumbs-up if nothing was found.

Bonnie noticed that the light pierced through the water of the lake and almost reached the bottom of the lake. It would be hard to hide anywhere in the water if that continued, Bonnie realized, since they were quickly scanning through the water, giving her a really short amount of time to swim away from it.

Deciding to take the risk, Bonnie silently took a deep breath and dived down. Once she reached as far as she could go, she took hold of a heavy rock that was down there and with its help reached the bottom of the lake. The pressure was really high down there, but Bonnie decided to stay put for a while. Then when she was ready, she quickly started swimming towards the area which had already been checked.

She swam about halfway through the distance and stopped as the light approached her. As soon as it passed in front of her barely missing her by an inch, she quickly swam past it and all the way to the other shore. She was about to pop out of the water to breathe much-needed air but had to stop as she noticed some grunts standing at the bank. She could easily hear them talking.

"Hey what did they say just now?" One of them spoke.

"To keep an eye until they were done with their experiment," the second one replied.

The first one yawned. "How long?"

"Probably another hour."

Bonnie would have gasped out loud if the water wasn't pressurising her. She was almost out of breath so she knew she didn't have longer than at most a minute. And that time wasn't long enough for her to go back to her starting point – not when the light still hadn't reached there.

Steeling her determination, she swam towards her right as quietly as she could and soon enough reached a part where there were really thick bushes. Grunts were there as well but it seemed like the bushes would prevent them from seeing her. Risking it, she slowly popped her head out of the water and took a deep breath. She was lucky that she hadn't cut her hair any shorter than it was right now, or the water dripping from her hair might have given away her location.

The next hour was like torture for her as she stayed in the ice-cold water, waiting for their experiment to finish. The scientists had already left by the time she managed to find a safe place but the grunts were still around – probably to make sure no one was there to disturb the experiment, whatever it was.

By the time they left, it was almost four in the morning. As soon as they left, Bonnie quietly swam all the way back to the projecting stone and wasn't surprised to see that Squishy wasn't there anymore – the scientists had already taken him back with them. There wasn't much that she could do at the moment. After making sure no one was around, she teleported back to her bedroom.

As soon as she reached her bedroom, she quickly removed her t-shirt and her nighties, and turned around to go to the bathroom so that she could throw her clothes in the laundry. She was about to open the door when the door flew open, revealing Max who was saying, "What the heck are you..."

He stopped and gaped at the sight of Bonnie in her undies with her hand extended towards the door – not to mention, her undies were wet, revealing everything underneath. After a moment of staring, he snapped out of his stupor. "A-alright, let's talk later," he said, closing the door.

"Yeah," muttered Bonnie, embarrassed at having Max see her like that – not to mention: she had also seen something rising up, under Max's pants. Trying to fight the embarrassment, she quickly changed and then threw all her wet clothes into the laundry before walking awkwardly into the drawing room where Max was just welcoming Cass into her home.

The two turned towards her just as she arrived in the room. The silence slowly turned awkward. Cass, noticing the tension in the room, decided to break the silence. "Let's go for training if you two are ready."

The two didn't say a word and nodded. Then Max walked out of the house in a hurry, making Cass wonder what happened. She decided to not bring it up until later in the afternoon. They spent the next hour training with their Pokémon as Max and Bonnie forgot about the awkward incident in her bedroom. It was five-fifteen by the time they returned back. Bonnie changed and they left for the Pokémon Centre.

As they walked, Max apologized to Bonnie telepathically. Bonnie didn't reply but nodded once at him. He seemed relieved that she wasn't going to make a big deal out of it. They reached the Pokémon Centre soon where Cass and Max changed. Once they were all done, they started walking towards the stadium.

They came across Ash and Serena on the way there. The couple looked like they had been out for some hardcore training, judging from the sweat dripping from their foreheads. They slowed down to a stop at the sight of the three.

"Do you think we can get some training in right now?" asked Ash.

Max was curious. "What training? Were you training yesterday when I brought Cole along?"

"Yeah," replied Cass and proceeded to explain what had been going on the previous day.

"I see," muttered Max thoughtfully, when she had finished. He turned towards the girls. "Any idea when?"

They shook their heads in response.

"I think the most logical time they would attack would be when Serena lets down her guard," said Bonnie. "That or they might just attack head-on – which seems a bit stupid to me."

"It never hurts to be safe," said Ash, shrugging his shoulders.

"Well. We just returned from our training," said Cass slowly. "Do you mind if we train after we find out our battle times?"

"No problem," replied Serena quickly. Looking at her, it seemed like she was quite tired from whatever their morning routine was. Nodding at them, the couple went ahead jogging at a light pace, leaving the three looking after their departing figures.

"Was it just me or..." Max petered out, glancing at his companions. They seemed to have the same idea as they turned back to look at the two figures which had already gone far ahead.

"I guess we should wait for some time before deciding about it," commented Cass, glancing at the two, who agreed with her. They turned back and started walking towards the stadium.

* * *

Meanwhile in the slums, the fake Ace and his buddies looked ecstatic as they waited for Pete to arrive at their hut. Pete arrived at about half past five. Without saying a word, he gestured them to follow him. Seeing the grim expression on his face, Ace and his two companions glanced at each other as they walked behind Pete.

Pete took them through a long winding path in the forest for almost an hour. They saw a cabin in the middle of the woods when they finally reached their destination.

"This will be our new base," said Pete monotonously, pointing at the cabin.

Raising an eyebrow at him, Ace went ahead and opened the door. He wasn't surprised to see the cabin bare – it was like they had just put up four walls and a ceiling in the middle of the forest, which was exactly what had happened.

"Any reason?" He asked, glancing back at Pete.

"This one is farther away from the city so you will be able to enjoy yourself to your heart's content," said Pete shortly.

Ace narrowed his eyes. "That isn't the only reason, is it?"

"Think about that yourself."

With that, Pete disappeared into the forest. The fake Ace turned towards his lackeys. "To be on the safe side, I guess?"

They nodded.

"That blonde bitch knows about the place so we don't have a choice," said one of them – his name was Nick.

"We should be safe here easily. I tried to remember the direction but had to give up – there were too many twists and turns," said the other, whose name was Dave.

Ace nodded but seemed to be pondering about something. After a while, his face broke into a mad grin. "Let's give Pete an extra bitch as well."

It took a moment for the other two to know what was going through his mind. They snickered with him. "Yeah, let's do this. Or maybe, we don't need to give her up at all. A sex toy would be nice."

The three gave maniacal laughs as they went inside the cabin to make preparations.

* * *

Max and Bonnie watched intently at the screen as the cards, with their faces hidden, spun rapidly forming a sphere. Once the card stopped spinning and overturned, they quickly scanned to see who they were going to face. A moment later, their pokédexes vibrated. Pulling them out, they checked their opponent's profile.

"I am against some girl named Alicia," commented Max, putting away his pokédex.

"I am against Heidi," said Bonnie slowly as she recognized the girl's face. "…And I remember her."

"So you finally did, huh?"

All three of them turned towards the source of the voice. Bonnie recognized the girl at once. "Heidi!"

Heidi grinned at her. "I was wondering if you had already forgotten how we worked together to save Lapras."

Bonnie smiled back at her. "I _almost_ did."

"Introduce us, Bonnie. You can catch up later," said Max, glancing between the two girls. Bonnie nodded and introduced Heidi to the two. She also told them how they had met as concisely as possible.

"I didn't really think much of adults back then but I think I have changed my opinion quite a lot," said Heidi, glancing at the screen which showed the first match already started.

Bonnie nodded but didn't reply at once. "Well, it's our turn to battle after this one, isn't it?"

Heidi narrowed her eyes. "Yeah, it is. And I was honestly surprised how you defeated Lucario in a single move – if you can even call it a move. I will have to make sure you won't do that again against me."

"We'll see about that," said Bonnie with a competitive smirk. She wasn't disappointed to get one back.

"By the way, who are you against?" asked Max, turning towards Cass. Bonnie and Heidi looked curious as well.

Cass sighed. "It's Cole."

Max whistled in surprise. "I can't say I envy you. Good luck."

"Who is Cole?" asked Heidi inquisitively. "That guy yesterday – who easily defeated the opponent's Blaziken with his Serperior?"

The two girls raised an eyebrow at her as Max nodded. "That's the one."

"He's strong alright," said Heidi. "But you're even stronger, Cass. You, with your Absol that day, were amazing."

Cass chuckled. "Thanks."

A voice suddenly interrupted their conversation. "Heidi and Bonnie, it's you turn now."

The voice repeated as the two opponents nodded at each other and left the room. Max and Cass watched as the two left and then glanced at each other. Apparently, they had had the same thought – Bonnie would win this.

* * *

"Let's go Lapras!"

"Braixen!"

The two trainers released their pokémon and waited for the referee to begin. "Match begin!"

"Ice Beam on the ground!" ordered Heidi at once.

"Jump in the air," yelled Bonnie almost immediately after.

Braixen jumped in the air just as the Ice Beam hit the ground where he was standing. It only took a couple of seconds for the whole battleground to be covered with ice. Heidi smirked, thinking she had an advantage for now.

"Fire Spin, straight down!" said Bonnie, returning Heidi's smirk.

Braixen pointed his stick downward and fired a swirling fire, rather small in size, at the frozen ground. The ice vaporised at once and created a smokescreen as Braixen fell into it, hidden from everyone's sight.

"Sheer Cold!" commanded Heidi when she realized that Bonnie could use the smokescreen to her advantage.

Lapras's body glowed light blue and then he released a wave of light blue energy that froze everything in its way as it approached the smokescreen. Bonnie didn't say anything; instead, she smirked, confusing everyone watching the battle.

Heidi narrowed her eyes. She had a feeling that Bonnie had something up her sleeve, so she told Lapras to be on guard. As soon as the light blue wave passed and froze the entire battlefield, the smokescreen dissipated, revealing a frozen Braixen.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then suddenly, all the ice that froze Braixen melted away, freeing him. He shook his fur to remove the rest of the water from it and then looked back at Lapras without flinching. Heidi gaped, wondering what had happened.

"Flame Charge," said Bonnie, narrowing her eyes at her opponent.

"Safeguard!" shouted Heidi, a bit panicked as Braixen disappeared from sight.

Much to her annoyance and shock, even before Lapras could fully form the force field to repel the attack, Braixen appeared right in front of Lapras and hit him near the bottom of its neck. The sudden impact sent Lapras flying into the air and threw him on the ground upside down. Lapras couldn't overturn by himself no matter how much he tried. Braixen in the meantime jumped on the overturned pokémon and held his stick on his stomach, ready to attack at a moment's notice.

"Lapras, Ice Beam!" yelled Heidi at once, deciding to take advantage of Braixen's position.

Lapras at once fired an ice beam at Braixen who didn't even flinch as he took the attack head-on at such a close range. Once again, Braixen froze before the ice melted away like the previous time, making Heidi wonder what exactly was going on.

"Wondering what's going on?" asked Bonnie with a small smirk on her face as she looked at Heidi's confused expression. "Look closely at Braixen."

Heidi did and soon saw what Bonnie meant. She could see a fiery-red glow surrounding Braixen against the clear blue sky. She realized at once what was going on and had to admit to herself that it was pretty clever on Bonnie's part.

"I didn't know Braixen had such an amazing control over his ability," she said with a sigh. She, then, returned her attention back to the battle. "Waterfall, Lapras!"

At once, a huge torrent of water appeared out of nowhere and surrounded Lapras and Braixen. A few seconds later, Lapras sprung out of the top and jumped down as Heidi ordered the next move. "Ice Beam! Freeze the water completely!"

Lapras conceded as he shot an ice beam and completely froze the water, effectively trapping Braixen within. Heidi smirked and turned towards Bonnie. "It won't be so easy to melt that much ice."

"Yeah, I know," said Bonnie, smirking back at her. "Overheat! First above, then below!"

For a second, nothing happened. Then suddenly, a large stream of swirling fire broke open the frozen top of the ice pillar. Soon after, it disappeared and the bottom of the pillar started glowing red. The next second, Braixen popped out of the top of the pillar with his fur burnt but otherwise okay.

"Will-O-Wisp!" ordered Bonnie as soon as she noted that Braixen was okay. Braixen fired a dark blue-pink ball at Lapras at once.

"Safeguard!" yelled Heidi. This time, Lapras managed to make the force field around him that sent the Will-O-Wisp back. He started panting a bit as soon as he was done with the move, which didn't go unnoticed by either of the trainers. It was apparent that the Flame Charge as well as Waterfall had taken its toll on Lapras's endurance. Heidi knew she didn't have much time to finish this but she couldn't find a way to defeat Braixen as quickly as she would have liked. She had to admit Bonnie had trained Braixen really well.

"Rain Dance; follow it by Hydration!" said Heidi, hoping Lapras would be able to activate his Hidden Ability.

Fortunately for her, Lapras did manage to do it and seemed refreshed as it kept on raining. Bonnie looked up towards the rain and decided that she would finish this up quickly.

"Sunny Day!" ordered Bonnie. Braixen lifted his stick up to the sky and fired a white light into the clouds of the Rain Dance. The clouds dissipated at once and the battlefield was bathed in a bright light. Deciding to not give a chance, Bonnie commanded the next move immediately. "Flame Charge, full power!"

This time, Heidi couldn't even see Braixen disappearing as he suddenly appeared in front of Lapras and slammed into him so hard that Lapras flew straight back into the wall behind Heidi, completely breaking it into pieces and burying the Ice/Water-type under the debris.

It took a while before what had happened sank into her head. Then, she slowly turned back to see Lapras knocked out.

"Lapras is unable to battle; Bonnie and Braixen win."

Bonnie returned Braixen and thanked him. Then she walked towards Heidi who had already run towards Lapras. Lapras had just woken up when she reached there. Bonnie started patting his head while slowly healing the pokémon with her aura. She let go of him when the Pokémon doctors came to take Lapras to the Pokémon Center. Heidi shook hands with Bonnie and with a short smile, left the battlefield, leaving Bonnie staring after her departing figure.

* * *

"So, what happened?"

Bonnie turned to see Cass and Max walking towards her.

"What do you mean 'What happened?'?" asked Bonnie questioningly.

"You seemed thoughtful when you were walking out of the battlefield – as if something was bothering you," replied Max as they started walking out of the stadium.

"Oh, that?" Bonnie paused for a while. "I don't know but it felt like something had been bothering Heidi. Not sure what, but it seemed like there was something that was bothering her. I could sense her restlessness when we shook hands."

"Well, we won't know until we ask her," said Cass, shrugging her shoulders. "Max's and my matches are tomorrow so we have time to go and check on her."

Bonnie nodded as the three left the stadium. Just as they walked out, they heard another explosion coming from the stadium. They turned to look at the screen in the hallway and saw the referee declaring Ash as the winner of his match. Mentally making a note to congratulate him, they left the stadium and started in the direction of the Pokémon Centre.

Just as they went out of sight of the stadium, they heard someone running towards them. Turning back they saw Ash and Serena nearing them. The two stopped and took a moment to catch their breath. The three knew what they wanted so they gestured to follow them. The five walked out of the city and reached their training ground quickly, and they started training. While Serena still had to work out to build some endurance, Ash, who usually trained every morning, had enough endurance for him to start training to control his aura better.

Ash sat on one side of clearing, cross-legged, and started meditating, like Cass had told him to while Serena kept up with the rigorous training for her. They stopped when it was almost two after noon and sat down to eat and rest for a bit.

"So, did you find what type is your aura, Ash?" asked Max, talking while chewing.

Ash shook his head. "I thought it might be a bit easier, but it is not. I will probably need some more time to find out about it."

"What about you, Serena?" asked Bonnie, turning towards the honey-blonde.

Serena sighed. "I didn't think it would be so difficult. It's so difficult that it is annoying."

"I think we could teach you some basic combat techniques," said Cass after a bit of silence. She exchanged glances with Max and Bonnie who seemed to have the same opinion as her. "But it is going to hurt like hell and you're going to bleed out many times. Do you think you can deal with that?"

Serena stared at her as if she couldn't believe it. Then she looked back at her boyfriend who didn't seem too pleased with how it sounded.

"Just how much will it hurt?" asked Ash, his face clearly showing his displeasure.

"Depends really," replied Bonnie, finishing up her lunch. "If hit with the right pressure and intensity, the attack can kill you on the spot." Seeing Serena's horrified face, she added. "Of course, we won't be that brutal but I can't say anything about your attackers. That's why it is best if you did learn some basic martial arts moves."

She cleared everything out and then lied down for a much-needed rest. It didn't take her even a minute to go to sleep. The others could only stare at her as she slept peacefully, seemingly without a care in the world. Shrugging to themselves, the four got up, and while Cass started showing Serena basic moves, Max told Ash to keep on meditating. It wasn't until six in the evening that they finally decided to call it a day.

Ash and Serena left with Serena being barely able to walk, while Cass woke Bonnie up who was still sleeping. Bonnie gave a loud yawn and stretched herself before getting up.

"How could you sleep so easily when everyone was training?" asked Max as they started towards Lumiose.

Bonnie gave another yawn as she replied. "Some things happened so I hadn't been able to sleep peacefully last night. I've been awake since like two in the morning."

"Whatever the heck were you doing that early?" asked Cass curiously.

Bonnie proceeded to tell them everything that had transpired during the night. She avoided her embarrassing moment with Max – which he was grateful for – as she told the two about every last detail she could remember.

"I never really found out why that guy intruded in the first place," finished Bonnie, looking back ahead. "And I was quite shocked to see Ace talking with Giovanni. The other thing that had me intrigued was that Giovanni called him a 'prototype'. So that's another mystery we need to solve."

"So Ace _is_ involved in this anyhow," muttered Max thoughtfully.

"By the way, what about that aura inside May?" asked Bonnie, glancing back at Max. Cass looked curious as well.

"No change," replied Max with a sigh. "I still can't figure out how the heck did that aura increase?"

"Care to explain what you two are talking about?" asked Cass rhetorically. The two explained what they had found out when Bonnie had come to return Max's pokéballs.

Cass looked thoughtful when they finished. "Isn't it possible to artificially inject aura from afar? Could that have happened?"

"Well, I did consider that possibility," said Max, glancing at her. "But as far as I know, there is nothing in the world that can do that – unless it is a human or a pokémon. In that case, I don't know."

There was silence as they quickened their pace towards the city. They didn't talk for a while, but then Cass broke the silence with an awkward question.

"What happened today?" she asked, glancing alternately at the two.

They seemed confused. "What are you talking about?"

"This morning," said Cass. "The mood between you two seemed tense for most of the time of our training."

The two realized at once what she was getting at and felt a bit embarrassed to talk about it.

"Let's just say there was an awkward moment between the two of us and that we wouldn't like to share it," said Max tentatively.

Cass shook her head with a sigh. "Alright, I guess."

Bonnie sighed internally, thankful that Max decided to end the discussion right there. She sent him a grateful glance and he smiled, before turning away at once, feeling awkward as he recalled what had happened. None of them talked as they walked the remaining distance to their respective dwellings.

* * *

That night, Cass woke up to her Holo Caster ringing loudly. She woke up with a start and glancing at the time – which was just past midnight – picked up the call. Bonnie was on the other end. Her expression told Cass the matter, whatever it was, was urgent.

"Cass, can you meet us up at the Prism Tower?" asked Bonnie and without waiting for an answer, hung up.

Knowing that she didn't have a choice, Cass got up, changed and left at once for the Prism Tower. It only took her about five minutes to run there. She reached there and saw Max, Bonnie, Ash and Brock standing there – all of them with a desperate look on their faces. Cass raised an eyebrow at Bonnie who explained what was going on.

"Serena is gone – kidnapped, I'd say," said Bonnie tersely. "And May has a really high fever. That aura suddenly intensified very much."

"Then, I guess you, Max and Brock are heading off to the hospital before joining me and Ash while we go and try to find Serena," said Cass, getting nods from everyone. "Alright then. Let's go, Ash."

With that, they separated into two groups, unknown to the fact that the evil, which had struck them, was already off to get its next target – Bonnie.


	11. Terrifying Situations

Chapter 11: Terrifying Situations

"We're done, Brock!" said Bonnie as she took control of the red aura that had been hiding in May's body.

As Brock checked the temperature, Max felt relieved that they had stopped the aura just in time as they had felt the red aura consuming May's aura. Just like the last time, the aura signature matched that of Ace, making them wonder if they had been wrong all along. Combining this with what Bonnie had seen the previous day – Ace meeting Giovanni – they weren't sure what to believe. It certainly seemed like Ace was the culprit in this case. Nevertheless, deciding to leave May in Brock's hands, they left in the direction Ash and Cass had gone.

Soon enough, they reached the slums and went directly towards the hut where they had been searching not more than a few days ago. Nothing seemed disturbed there when they reached there. It was only when they peered inside that they realized that their enemies' base had been moved – there was nothing in the room, other than the cabinet which was attached to the wall from what they had seen. Everything else had gone; nothing remained.

They tried to sense any traces of aura that may have remained but there seemed none. Glancing at each other, they walked out of the dark alley and then flew in the sky high enough for them to be able look at least ten kilometres. After searching for a while, they finally saw a speck of bluish aura some three kilometres away. Without a word, they quickly flew over there, and were shocked to see Ash in half-dead condition.

Landing hurriedly, they quickly went and checked his condition. His right arm and his left thigh bones had a clean crack through them. About five of his ribs were broken; his nose was broken as well. And he was bleeding terribly from all the wounds inflicted on him. Many of those wounds were aura wounds since both of them could sense traces of aura on them – red-coloured to be specific. They didn't even need to confirm that it had Ace's aura signature – it felt the same like the other two times they had extracted the aura.

Without exchanging a word, Max nodded at Bonnie and then disappeared in bright light with the injured Ash. It was clear to the two of them that something really bad had happened that even Cass couldn't prevent. Bonnie decided to investigate some more. Just as she walked a few steps in the direction she could still sense Cass's aura, she suddenly felt something to her right. Before she could even turn her head to see what it was, something pierced her skin, near her forearm. Almost immediately, she felt so weak that she couldn't even stand up and had to sit down right then and there.

She wondered what it was as she felt weaker and weaker. She soon couldn't sit up and ended up falling down much to her annoyance. She just couldn't fight the weakness. She didn't feel anything else – just weak. And she couldn't fight against it no matter how hard she tried. She couldn't understand what was going on other than the fact that something _had_ pierced her and _that_ was the reason behind this sudden weakness. Soon enough, she passed out without a fight.

* * *

Bonnie forced her eyes open and slowly looked around. It seemed like she was in some kind of a cabin. There was only a window in her room through which bright light shone. She must have been passed out for several hours, considering that they had started around midnight last night. That was an assumption though, since she didn't know if she had been unconscious for just one night or more.

Once she felt better, she tried getting up, only to realize that her feet and hands had been tied. Considering she had gotten up just a short while ago, she didn't have enough strength to try and break the chains holding her. Not only that, the right side of her body still ached, apparently from whatever had happened that night. She could still move her feet a bit though, so she moved them around to get a more comfortable position.

After that, she took a deep breath and calmly started observing her surroundings to see if she could escape when she gets a chance. Just then the door to her room opened and someone kicked a person in. It only took a second for Bonnie to realize that the person who was kicked in was none other than Max. She didn't hear anyone once the door was closed and she was left to her own devices again.

She looked at Max and saw that he was pretty much half-dead – and that was a huge shock, considering how strong he was. It occurred to her almost immediately that he must have been dealt with the same she was – by injecting whatever they put in their system. Bonnie scanned him with whatever aura she could muster at that point but didn't see or feel anything suspicious in his system. Nevertheless, she decided to check on him when she could finally muster enough aura to do so.

Hours went by while nothing happened. It wasn't until it was well into the night that Bonnie finally felt Max make some movement.

"Max, are you okay?" she asked instinctively.

"I wish… I was," wheezed Max as he changed his position and lay down on his back. "But… I am glad… you are okay."

Bonnie sighed in annoyance. "You should worry about yourself right now," she chided him. "Besides, you're the only one right now who can do anything."

Max didn't reply for a while as he started healing himself up slowly. After some time, he replied. "Can't you break those chains?"

"I would have if I could," replied Bonnie with a sigh. "Apparently, they made sure I couldn't use my aura. I think I have that red aura in me right now. I have been holding it back for a while but I don't think I will be able to fight any longer than a few days at most."

Max slowly got up, even though his wounds hadn't healed up yet. Bonnie winced as she saw all the wounds on his body that were slowly closing up.

"So, what exactly happened?" asked Bonnie, glancing at him.

"This guy – I think his name's Pete – appeared out of nowhere when I teleported back where Ash had been," replied Max, flexing his joints and ignoring the pain in them. He winced as one of his wounds reopened. After a bit of stretching, he stopped and let his aura do the work. "I never got a chance to retaliate after he started. He stopped soon after and left just as suddenly as he had appeared. But by then, he had already broken half of my bones. I lost consciousness after that."

He suddenly sat down as sweat trickled down his face. Apparently, the damage was so much that it had taken a lot of stamina out of him and he couldn't stand up any longer. He looked back up at Bonnie as she stared at him. "I just didn't expect to wake up and see you tied like that," he commented dubiously.

Bonnie rolled her eyes and shrugged at him. She glanced briefly at her stomach and then back at Max. Max understood what she meant and nodded. "After I feel rested enough," he said.

The two just silently sat there after that statement, examining their situation. After a while, Bonnie broke the silence. "I take it that you don't know where we are either. Am I right?"

Max nodded and sighed. He looked back at her. "Do you know something – anything – about what happened to Cass? I couldn't sense her when I tried to."

"I did sense her but something was injected into me before I could do anything," replied Bonnie, sounding frustrated. "Whatever the drug was, it was powerful enough to weaken me in a matter of seconds. It pains me to say this but I think I panicked then. I didn't even try to look around to see who had attacked."

Max shrugged his shoulders and sighed. "It's not like you could have done anything about that guy even if you knew who it was."

"It would have been easier to identify him," retorted Bonnie at once.

"You've got a point, I guess," agreed Max with a sigh.

"Don't _guess._ I _have_ got a point," snapped Bonnie, obviously pissed off at herself.

Max didn't say anything and decided to freshen himself up. When he felt he had enough aura, he got Bonnie's attention. She nodded and told him to remove the red aura.

He sat beside her and pulled up her top, exposing her stomach. Putting his hand there, he let his aura spread in her system. Bonnie shivered involuntarily as the cool aura stretched throughout her body and started containing all the bits and pieces of the red aura inside her. The red aura slowly concentrated in her stomach. When Max felt that he had taken care of the entire foreign aura, he slowly lifted his hand, pulling it out as well. Then, he put his hand out of the window and dispersed the aura into the surrounding forest.

"Thanks a lot, Max," said Bonnie with a smile. Max simply smiled back as he walked up to her.

In the meantime, Bonnie suddenly felt her aura surge. She pulled on her hands and broke the chains easily. With Max's help, she stood on her legs a bit unsteadily; apparently, she had been sitting for quite some time for her legs to feel wobbly. A few minutes later, everything went back to normal.

"Let's go," said Bonnie, glancing briefly at Max.

"Where exactly?" asked Max as they walked out of the cabin. It came as a bit of a surprise to them that no one was watching the cabin as they stood outside breathing in the fresh night air. They checked the time – it was three-fifteen in the morning.

"I can still sense Cass faintly," said Bonnie as she started walking. "I should be able to pinpoint her location soon enough."

As they walked, Max gave a low whistle. Bonnie turned and raised an eyebrow at him. Max gave her an annoyed look. "I just realized I missed my match."

Bonnie chuckled to herself. "I don't think so. Ash probably hasn't recovered yet completely. And he knows we still haven't returned. I doubt he will let them continue with the tournament."

"That's just an assumption," said Max with a sigh. "But you have a point there."

"Down, Max," barked Bonnie suddenly.

Without a second's delay, Max ducked down as he felt something whoosh above his head. He did a front handspring and turned around to see the now-familiar form of Pete appearing from the darkness. Bonnie was glaring at him as well.

"Get. Out," the guy spoke monotonously almost like a robot as he glanced at the two.

"What if we don't?" retorted Max, recalling with frustration how easily he had been beaten.

"You die," replied Pete as he disappeared.

Both of them knew they were dealing with a dangerous enemy since they couldn't feel his aura at all. But they knew that he was there and he was looking for a chance and end it in a single strike.

The two stood facing each other and trusting the other to take care of anything that happened behind them. The silence was stressful as the two kept an eye on their surroundings. Sweat beaded on their foreheads and trickled down their faces as they waited tensely for the man to attack. After the longest five minutes ever, something happened.

Max fell down. In a heap. Motionless.

Bonnie was shocked to see that and almost shouted at him, before seeing a red liquid coming from under him. Instinctively, she ran towards him – not forgetting to keep an eye on their surroundings. She tried hard to stay calm but inside her mind, she was panicking.

"Max!" She shouted vainly as she dropped beside him and turned him over. Immediately, she saw a clean cut in his chest that sloped ever so slightly towards his heart. "MAX!"

She panicked. Looking around, she realized almost immediately that they were alone. That, for some reason, calmed her down as well as terrified her about their situation. She took several deep breaths in an attempt to calm down, and then checked for his pulse.

Nothing.

She was about to lose her nerve again when she felt something. She focused her aura there and felt it. A pulse. Very, very faint but it was there. Max was still alive.

She felt relieved before realizing the gravity of the situation. Afraid that she might hurt him further, she slowly pulled up his shirt to reveal the wound and placed her hand on it. The feeling of open flesh against her palm disgusted her but it was necessary. She checked what had been damaged and realized that Pete had half-cut the aorta near the heart. She didn't know if Max had dodged his attack or he had deliberately not finished him right there, but she couldn't care less.

She had the chance to save Max.

She quickly let her aura inside Max's body and covered up the cut as well as any other wound nearby, and started healing him. It took her almost half an hour for the cut to heal completely. When she was done, she sighed in relief, and then focused on closing the wound on his skin. Max stirred by the time she finished.

Noticing him stir, Bonnie checked for his pulse and was relieved to feel it getting stronger. Realizing how close she had been to losing her best friend, she couldn't help as tears started trickling down her face and onto the scar from the attack on Max's chest. She let herself cry silently for a while, letting Max's head rest on her lap.

"Are you done crying?" Max's voice rang out suddenly, making her jump.

She rubbed her eyes to see Max looking at her with a smile. She smiled back. "Yeah."

Max sat up with a groan and checked the healed wound. "Thanks a lot, Bonnie."

Bonnie simply smiled at him. Max looked back at her. "I don't know why I feel so surprised to see you crying like that. Frankly, I am glad to see you care so much about me."

Bonnie rubbed her face dry. "Of course, I would care. No one knows me as well as you do. Not even my family."

Max couldn't help smiling. "Thanks a lot, Bonnie. Really. Thanks."

He suddenly felt her arms sliding around his neck and pulling him towards her. He couldn't sit steady and ended up being pulled by her completely. She hugged him lying down on the ground with him on her, their bodies pressed together. No words were exchanged as Max returned her hug and pulled her closer. They stayed like that for quite some time before letting go. Then they got up and dusted themselves, exchanging a brief smile.

"Now let's go find Cass," said Bonnie seriously. "We shouldn't waste any more time."

Max chuckled as they started walking. "I wouldn't really call that 'a waste of time'. To be honest, I wouldn't mind being hugged like that every day."

Bonnie scoffed at him but felt happy nonetheless. She really didn't want to lose anyone – least of all, him.

Bringing their wandering minds back to the task, Bonnie focused on pinpointing the direction of Cass's aura while Max focused on charging up his aura. Apparently, being attacked right after healing himself earlier had been an exhausting task.

Bonnie soon managed to locate the direction in which Cass seemed to have gone and with a quick glance at Max, started running towards it. Max followed wordlessly. They continued into the wilderness for quite some time, hoping all the while that both Cass and Serena were safe.

Presently, Max stopped Bonnie and pulled her into the bushes. Bonnie curiously looked at him and then followed his line of sight. They saw Ace and his two buddies coming in their direction. Not knowing how well they could use aura, both Max and Bonnie reduced their presence while eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Where did Pete go?" asked Nick, one of the two lackeys of Ace.

"To check on our hostages," replied Dave. "Apparently, he wanted to make sure they wouldn't escape."

"How the fuck does he think they will escape?" snapped Ace, obviously in a very bad mood.

"They already did."

Pete suddenly appeared out of nowhere and stood in front of the three. The three looked back at him as if they couldn't believe what they had just heard.

"What the fuck do you mean?" blurted out Ace, shocked.

"Exactly what I said. I found them some distance away and killed the boy. The girl is still alive if you want her."

There was a pause.

"And where's she right now?" asked Dave, after glancing at the other two.

"Probably with him," replied Pete carelessly. "She was one of our subjects. Go and torture her until we ask for her. She shouldn't have dared to escape."

"Why didn't you torture her?" snapped Ace, feeling angry all of a sudden.

"I have things to do unlike you guys," replied Pete, shutting them up. "I am under direct orders of the boss so do as I say – or I kill you."

"Fine."

The three conceded while Pete disappeared just as suddenly as he had come. As soon as he left, they grouped together.

"Did you find out what they are after?" asked Ace, glancing at the other two.

"Not anything concrete," replied Nick. "But it has something to do with aura as well as cloning."

"I think they want to create a strong army of people who would listen to everything they are told," speculated Dave.

"I suppose that makes me a prototype," muttered Ace thoughtfully.

"It does, it seems," said Dave. "As far as I know, you were the first successful product. There was one before you but it was a huge failure and ended up destroying the lab where it was produced."

There was a pause. Ace broke it after a while. "Let's go and find that bitch. I feel like fucking her."

The other two's eyes showed no sympathy or emotion. "Also, we'll record it this time and make sure she listens to us."

They left the place, not knowing that their targets had heard every word exchanged.

Max and Bonnie glanced at each other horrified, realizing how close they had been to their torture and felt exceedingly thankful that Max had been able to wake up earlier. Neither of them wanted to think what would have happened had that not been the case.

Bonnie was shaken and she suddenly sat down in the bushes. Max felt angry at the thought process of the three. He turned to Bonnie with a dismal look on his face. Bonnie took a couple of deep breaths to calm herself down.

"I think we should be safe for a while," she said, glancing at Max.

"No, you aren't."

The two jumped back at the voice and turned towards it. It was Ace, the real one. He was hanging upside down from the branch of a nearby tree, looking at them with a sore expression.

"Great job fucking everything up for every one of us," he said, exasperated.

"It's not like we could have helped it," retorted Max, irritated at their friend.

"You _could_ have helped it," said Ace, jumping down from the branch to the ground. "You just chose not to."

"Well then, help us," said Bonnie, knowing full well what the answer was going to be.

"Deal with it yourself," retorted Ace at once, confirming her thought. "Just make sure they don't record you because I have no intention of being mistaken for someone I am not."

They gaped at him. "I thought you would care for Bonnie first."

"No, I won't," said Ace, looking at them. "I think I had made that clear earlier when we travelled together."

"Yeah but you do realize that she's in a dangerous situation right now, don't you?"

"So?"

"What?"

"So? So what do you expect me to do?"

"Well…" There was a pause. No one spoke during that time.

"Oh, forget it and get going," said Ace exasperatedly. "I have a feeling that the tournament will start today so you don't have much time to waste."

"Well then do us a favour and search for Cass while we rest," directed Max as he followed Bonnie who had already started walking. Without waiting for a reply, the two left.

Ace stared after their departing figures and sighed to himself, knowing that he would have to do what he was told. With that in mind, he continued in the direction he felt Cass's aura.

* * *

In the meantime, Ash, who had been teleported by Max to Brock's cabin in the hospital the previous night, woke up to a series of beeps he heard at regular intervals. He slowly turned his neck to the side to see a life support unit attached to him. His body still ached as he sat up painfully and looked around. He was in a hospital room similar to May's. No one was in the room at the moment except Pikachu who was sleeping by his side on the bed.

It took some time before he remembered what had happened. _Shit!_ He thought. _I completely forgot about Serena._

He still didn't fully recall what had exactly happened, other than the fact that he and Cass had been attacked. His memory was still foggy as the door to his room opened, revealing Brock. The relief on Brock's face was visible as he noticed Ash awake.

"Are you feeling okay, Ash?" he asked, sitting down beside him and checking his wounds.

Ash winced as Brock pulled open one of his wounds and started bandaging it again. "Quite okay. Just some pain in my body." Without letting Brock speak, he asked. "What time is it? And have you heard from Max, or Bonnie, or Cass?"

Brock shook his head, much to Ash's dismay. "Max left you in the bed and disappeared almost instantly so I didn't get to ask him. And it is almost nine-thirty in the morning. It seems like everyone has heard what had happened to you so there's a huge crowd waiting at the hospital door for any kind of news."

Ash looked thoughtful as Brock finished with the dressing. As he got up, Ash spoke. "Alright Brock, do me a favour and tell Goodshow to put the tournament on hold. And not to start it unless and until I say so."

Brock gave him a questioning glance. "How about you talk to him yourself? He's standing right outside."

Ash nodded and Brock went outside, returning with the tournament organizer a few moments later. Ash gestured Brock to leave him alone with Goodshow, making both of them question his motives. Nonetheless, they did what he asked and Brock left the room along with Pikachu who too felt relieved that his partner was okay.

"So what is it?" asked Goodshow curiously, noticing the meditative look on Ash's face.

Ash didn't speak for a while, organizing his thoughts. "You remember what you asked me to investigate?" he finally spoke at length. Seeing Goodshow nod, he continued. "I have a feeling that whatever or whoever is doing this has an objective that apparently purposely includes using humans. I'm not too sure about it but I and some of my friends have been targeted; it seems they are targeting especially those trainers who seem adept at using aura."

Goodshow had a grim expression as he noted what Ash had said. He looked at the famous trainer who continued. "I haven't yet figured out where rapes come in but I assume they are just taking the chance to do so since they can." He paused for a moment, wording his next question in his mind.

"Do you know of the slum area behind the Lumiose Airport?"

Goodshow gave him an astonished look. "What are you talking about?"

Ash elaborated what had transpired while he spent time with Max and the others. Goodshow looked grim by the time he finished. There was a pause during which neither of them talked. After some time, Goodshow called one of his assistants and whispered something to him. The assistant nodded, left, and soon came back with a file. Goodshow snatched the file from him and started flipping through the hundreds of pages inside it.

"I have a feeling something like that has happened in history," he muttered as he searched for whatever it was that he was trying to find.

After a while, he stopped, apparently finding it. He turned the file over and handed it to Ash who glanced at it. The page showed a photo of a stone tablet – one of those which had started showing up suddenly about three years ago and rumoured to contain all the secrets in the universe.

Ash stared at it for a while. The carvings showed many houses and even buildings that looked like shops but there was no person on it. Not a single person was carved anywhere on the entire tablet. That was something that Ash noticed almost immediately, and he turned and raised an eyebrow at Goodshow.

"Doesn't that sound similar to those slums you were talking about?" asked Goodshow.

It clicked at once to Ash and he understood what Goodshow was trying to show to him. He glanced at the photo of the tablet in his arms and then back at Goodshow. "What does this have to do with what we are going through right now?"

Goodshow sat down on the chair beside his bed and took a deep breath. He replied with conviction. "We found some of those tablets that were found in other regions were related to this one and managed to decipher it. Apparently, there was always a city that was at the peak of its generation, every generation. And whenever it was at its peak, strange, empty, ghostly houses always showed up at the most secluded area of the city. The houses always looked like they belonged to the poorest families of that generation – slums of that generation – but they were always empty. No one knew how they suddenly appeared but whenever they appeared, bad things started happening in the city. It didn't matter what city it was or how prosperous it was, it would fall – _always_."

Ash listened to this, slightly fascinated. "So, you mean to say that Lumiose is at its peak and so these slums have appeared. Ever since they have appeared, strange things have been happening; in our case – kidnappings. And no one has been able to stop it, which means that Lumiose will fall. I assume that Lumiose City is at its technological peak right now because of all the technology advancements. Am I right? That's what you are implying, aren't you?"

"Well, kind of," admitted Goodshow, sitting straight. "But I have heard that Giovanni has escaped prison and from what you say, it seems he's going to do something other than trying to kill you. So, it's quite possible that these tablets could also mean that someone evil could strike that would result in the downfall of Lumiose City. That's what is needed to be confirmed."

Ash seemed thoughtful at the information. After a while of thinking, he turned to Goodshow and thanked him for the information. Goodshow laughed and took his leave after wishing him to get well soon. Before he left, Ash mentioned his wish to put the tournament on hold for a while citing what had happened so far, which Goodshow agreed to.

As soon as he left, Brock re-entered, looking curious. Before he could ask Ash anything, he jumped up from his bed and quickly removed all the wires and tubes attached to him, much to Brock's displeasure and concern. But Ash seemed okay – it seemed like he had healed rather quickly – so he didn't say anything about it.

"Where's Cynthia, Brock?" asked Ash quickly. "I need to talk to her."

"I don't know; you will have to find her yourself," replied Brock. "I will join you once I am done cleaning up everything here."

"Alright, thanks!"

With that, Ash left the room – only to bump into May. May had a worried expression on her face.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," replied Ash hastily. "We will talk later, May."

"Before you go," said May quickly, stopping Ash before he ran away. "Where's Max? I haven't heard from him since the last two days."

Ash grimaced to himself. After quick consideration, he decided to be a little vague. "I am just going after him. He left me at the hospital and went after Serena so I need to catch up with them fast."

Without waiting for a reply, Ash dashed out of the hospital leaving a confused but worried May behind. Just then, Brock came out of Ash's room with some instruments in his hands. May didn't bother checking them as she asked him worriedly if Serena had been found yet.

Brock shook his head much to her dismay and said, "No one knows what is going on here. Everything's a mess. The others have been trying to find something that might give them a clue but everyone's been unsuccessful so far."

Just as he finished, Iris appeared in the hallway, looking tired. Brock noticed it and asked, "Are those two okay?"

"Professor Oak has been calm all the time," replied Iris tiredly. "Delia has finally calmed down thanks to him."

Brock sighed in relief. "I think we can tell her everything's fine. Ash just left. I suppose he's gone after Serena and the others."

Iris's face lit up considerably. "Do I tell them? Delia had been quite frantic about the whole situation."

Brock frowned slightly. "I don't think so. It would have been better if Ash had talked to her first."

"I guess you do have a point."

"Hey guys!"

The three turned to see Cilan running towards them. He slowed down to a walk and jerked his thumb towards the direction he had come from. "May, Dawn's calling you. She needs your help."

May nodded and left as Cilan joined them.

"Did you find anything?" asked Brock.

"I think so," replied Cilan after a while. He frowned a bit, organizing his thoughts. Iris and Brock waited. Eventually, Cilan spoke. "Do you recall how May reacted at seeing Ace?"

The two nodded, remembering the incident quite well. They still felt pissed off about it. Seeing them nod, Cilan continued. "I poked around a little bit and talked with as many participants as I could. I couldn't find the remaining but I did find something interesting. Right after Ace finished his battle and left the stadium, someone of his description apparently talked to one of the participants. Her name's Alicia. One of Alicia's friends did mention that she had left the stadium along with that guy. When I asked him to describe the guy, the description matched that of Ace."

The listeners' gaze hardened at his revelation. "So that means Ace really _is_ behind all that's happening."

"Maybe," said Cilan doubtfully. "There's a problem. The time doesn't match."

"What do you mean?"

"If we considered the distance from the battlefield to where Alicia was last seen by her friends, the time to cover that distance would be about ten minutes assuming Ace walked at the same speed he left the battlefield. But Alicia was seen leaving the stadium _immediately after_ Ace left the battlefield. Unless he knows how to teleport, it is not possible for that distance to be covered so quickly."

"Well, Max can teleport," pointed out Brock. "Ace probably does know that too because Max did mention that Ace had taught them how to use aura."

"But there wasn't any bright light, was there?" asked Cilan rhetorically. "As far as I remember, whenever I saw either Max or Bonnie teleporting, they always disappeared while blinding everyone with the bright light."

"Well, that's true," conceded Brock at length.

"So you mean to say that someone is masquerading as the Ace we saw and doing all this?" asked Iris questioningly. "What have they got against him if that's true?"

"That I don't know," admitted Cilan. "But I also found another thing: Alicia, who has disappeared, knew how to wield aura."

The two seemed quite curious as Cilan continued. "Almost all the people who have disappeared could use aura. The ones who didn't were the ones who had that high fever – much like May and Dawn."

The three seemed thoughtful as they stood at the reception desk. The commotion outside the door didn't bother them as much as their thoughts did. After a while, Brock turned to Nurse Joy who was sitting at the reception desk and asked her where Ash was. She replied that he had gone to the patio at the top of the hospital. Brock nodded at her and ran towards the elevator, the other two in tow.

"We should tell Ash about this," remarked Brock grimly. "He will be able to make more sense out of this than we can."

They reached the deck just in time to see Ash waving at Cynthia who was ready to board the helicopter. Ash looked surprised to see them there. Seeing their expressions, he understood that something had happened.

Cilan explained what he had found out by snooping around as Ash listened seriously. He looked grave when Cilan finished.

"You do remember the reason for the high fever, right?" asked Ash, glancing at them.

"That aura that Max and Bonnie had removed from May's body, right?" replied Brock quizzically.

Ash nodded. He stared meditatively at the late-afternoon sun that was slowly moving towards the horizon. "I think," he said eventually turning towards them. "About that Alicia going away with Ace part: there are two possibilities. Either Ace knows how to teleport without getting anyone's attention or there really is someone else who is masquerading as him. I am more inclined to believe it is the latter."

"But do you know who could be it?" asked Cilan inquisitively. "There's no way we can confirm that when no one knows him clearly."

"We'll find a way," said Ash abruptly. He turned his back at them. "Go and try to find some more information if you can. I will have to go and check on Serena and Cass. It is quite possible they might be in danger."

The three nodded and left the deck as Ash waited for his helicopter to arrive. He was determined to get to the bottom of this.

* * *

"So Bonnie…"

"Hmmm…"

"Why'd you panic?"

Bonnie turned to look at Max as they ran towards the Lumiose City. Max was looking back at her with a curious expression. "You are more level-headed than me. Seeing you losing your nerve unnerves me more than you think."

Bonnie gave an awkward laugh but didn't say anything for a while. Eventually, she spoke. "I guess I am afraid of losing you," she confessed. "Seeing you on the verge of death suddenly like that must have triggered that response out of me."

"Should I assume from that statement that you love me?" asked Max frankly, looking her in the eye.

Bonnie was a bit taken aback at him being so direct about it. She felt herself flushing madly but she decided to be honest about it. "I suppose you should," replied Bonnie, looking away from him momentarily. "You are the only person other than my family that I don't want to lose at any cost. Doesn't that tell you anything?"

Max smiled to himself and turned to look ahead at their path. "I guess," he replied finally. "Thanks for being so frank."

"I'd rather be frank and get embarrassed than hide my feelings and regret it later," said Bonnie with a slight edge to her voice.

Max jerked his head in surprise as he glanced at her briefly. She was still looking ahead but Max was pretty sure that her voice had been a bit shaky. He didn't comment though and turned his attention back ahead.

Suddenly, they heard a helicopter's chopping blades in the stillness of the night and skidded to a stop. Looking up, they noticed a lone helicopter slowly cruising towards them. They could see a person hanging out of the helicopter and looking around. But it was quite dark and the lights of the helicopter were turned off so they couldn't see who it was. It wasn't necessary though as they felt Ash's familiar aura in it.

"Should we get his attention?" asked Bonnie, glancing briefly at Max.

"I think we should," said Max, forming a small aura sphere in his hand. "Let's fly near him."

And so, the two flew towards the helicopter with Max's aura sphere a little ahead of them, providing just enough light to light their faces up. Ash seemed to have noticed them for the helicopter slowed down and started hovering at its place. The two approached him and hovered just in front of him.

The noise of the rotating blades was deafening so Ash gestured to them to talk after they were on the ground. Then, he turned to the pilot inside and gestured the same thing to him as well. After that, the three descended to the ground with Max and Bonnie helping Ash. After they were on the ground, the helicopter quickly turned and left the forest as silence descended again.

Ash turned to the two of them and raised an eyebrow. The two shook their heads, indicating that they hadn't found anything. Ash sighed and then pointed in the southeast direction.

"I saw something in that direction," he declared. "Not sure exactly what it was; it seemed like a flitting shadow to me. It was way too far away. I'd say about five or six kilometers."

"Seems like you unconsciously used aura vision," remarked Bonnie, looking at the trainer curiously.

"Did I?" asked Ash inquisitively. "I don't know; I am more bothered about what is happening around here."

"What do you mean?" asked Max inquiringly.

"I don't know but I have this gut-feeling I shouldn't go over there," said Ash uncomfortably. "I don't know I should believe it or not."

"You should believe it," said Bonnie at once. "Gut-feelings are mostly right – especially when it comes to your close relationships."

"I agree with her," said Max, glancing between the two alternately.

Ash pondered for a moment, glancing at the two. After a while, he sighed. "I don't really want to agree with you but seeing as you have been right all along, I think I will heed your advice for now."

Max and Bonnie exchanged glances. Then, Bonnie turned towards him. "What about the tournament?"

"I have put it on hold for the moment," replied Ash, glancing again in the southeastern direction. "They won't start until I say so."

Max seemed a bit thoughtful as Bonnie urged him and Ash to continue towards Lumiose City.

 **"Bonnie, I don't know why but I have a feeling that the tournament won't stay on hold for long,"** said Max telepathically, getting her attention.

 **"I think that's why Ace told us to go ahead while he dealt with finding Cass and Serena,"** said Bonnie, glancing at him. **"His match is later, right?"**

 **"If I'm not wrong, his match is tomorrow,"** said Max, looking back ahead. **"Our match is today."**

"Did you find anything, Ash?" asked Bonnie as she checked the time – half past four in the morning.

"Yeah, Goodshow and Cilan told me quite a lot of things," replied Ash after a short while. He elaborated what he had learnt on waking up.

The two were taken aback when they learnt that the fake Ace had already made a move on Alicia – and kidnapped her possibly.

"Max, your opponent was Alicia, right?" asked Ash, glancing at him. When Max nodded, Ash asked him to show her profile. There was a chance that the profile had her photo.

Bonnie's eyes widened when she saw her in the photo. Max realized at the same time as well. There was not a shred of doubt about it – Alicia was Heidi's sister. Or at least, a close family relative – they were sure about that.

Max and Bonnie exchanged glances and knew at once why Heidi seemed bothered after her match with Bonnie. They were about to suggest continuing their search when suddenly the bushes parted to reveal a person.

It was Ace – the real one.

Ash, not knowing that, stood defensively glaring at him. But Max and Bonnie were surprised.

"What are you doing here?" Seeing those two relaxed, Ash relaxed as well but he still was doubtful as he glanced at Ace.

"Found them," replied Ace shortly as he snapped his fingers. Serena and Cass suddenly appeared above them, floating in the air and looking otherwise unharmed.

"Serena!" Ash shouted instantly at the sight of his girlfriend and closed the distance between them – only to be kicked in the gut by Ace.

"Shut the fuck up," he said coolly, retracting his leg as Ash got up with shock – and slight anger – evident on his face. "They are healing," continued Ace before anyone could say a word. "And unless you want me to knock them out again, stop shouting."

Ash shut up after he got a nod from both his companions and glared at Ace, unhappy that he couldn't hold Serena as she healed.

"So what did you find?" asked Bonnie, observing the injuries of the two.

"They were tortured," said Ace impassively. "Both of them had bruises and burns all over their body; they didn't even spare their private parts. Badly violated; and if I'm not wrong about Serena, it's not only dicks that went in there."

"Wait, you don't mean…" said Ash, his voice fainting slowly in shock.

"Exactly what you heard," said Ace with a short nod. "Cass was spared; Serena wasn't."

"So you mean Serena was… raped?" asked Max, forcing the word out of his mouth. "And Cass wasn't?

"I don't think so - for Cass," said Ace. "Both of them were naked when I found them and were just about to be violated. Cass's still a virgin but she was badly bruised down there. Apparently, they shoved in whatever they could find just to torture her. Serena, well… I would rather not describe her injuries. Your friend, Ash, will pass out and probably go in a coma if I did."

Ash was shaking uncontrollably, feeling a mixture of emotions – anger, sadness, distress, upset and all other negative emotions. He never uttered a word but his rage was plainly visible in his eyes. His aura was starting to go wild as well. None of the other three said anything; there was nothing they could say that could have calmed him down.

"Where are they?" asked Ash quietly, looking Ace in the eye.

"Yeah, like I know," said Ace sarcastically.

"Ace, did you find any other girl – other than these two?" asked Max before anyone else could speak.

"Nope," replied Ace at once, raising an eyebrow. "Was there anyone else?"

"Unfortunately, yes," replied Max, grimly.

Before anyone could make sense of what happened next, Ace picked up Max by the collar of his shirt and threw him like a discus right towards the direction Ash had seen the shadow in.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" snapped Bonnie angrily when she realized what Ace had done.

"I am too bored to go all the way there again," said Ace carelessly. "Max will deal with whatever shit happens now. And here," he added as both Serena and Cass stopped levitating and fell down much to the other two's shock. "I got them out of danger. Deal with them yourself now."

With that, Ace teleported away from there. Ash and Bonnie exchanged glances as they cradled the unconscious pair and decided to go back and get some rest. Bonnie teleported Cass away, leaving Ash with Serena alone as the first rays of sun showed up over the horizon. A couple of minutes later, Bonnie reappeared and this time, teleported with both Ash and Serena at the same time.

* * *

In the meantime, Max snapped out of his shock as he realized he was flying through the air at a breakneck speed. It didn't take him even a second to realize what had happened. He cursed Ace under his breath as he flew through the air. When he started descending, he looked ahead and noticed himself heading towards a clearing. He turned his head slightly back and noticed that he had been thrown a ridiculously large distance away. He couldn't even sense any of his friends and that was saying something because his range of sensing aura was quite large – about ten or so kilometers.

Max decided to use his psychic power to slow himself down since using aura might give away his location. It was harder to slow down like that but it would be helpful. At the same time, he used his aura to sense if anyone was there – he didn't feel anything and so decided to land in the middle of the clearing. He did so and looked around but there wasn't anything there.

Using his aura vision, he soon noticed a spot in the middle where the grass was trampled badly. He didn't need to think what had happened – Ace's explanation had told it all. Cursing under his breath, he walked around a bit but didn't see anything else. So, he decided to be patient and wait right there.

Walking towards the edge, he jumped into the dense shrubbery, and prepared himself for what could have been a long wait. Thankfully for him, he didn't have to wait for long. At the first ray of light that was visible in the clearing, some bushes at his left parted and revealed Ace – the fake one – being followed by his pawns. One of them had a girl, tied and gagged, and was dragging her to the middle of the clearing without caring even a bit for her. Pete didn't seem to be around so Max assumed he should be safe.

Max could hear the doppelganger swearing stupidly at realizing that their spot had been discovered. Soon enough, he ordered his two underlings to follow him. Thinking that he might have a chance to find their new hideout, Max decided to follow them and didn't make a move. He could see the sheer terror in the girl's face as he followed them – the girl was Alicia; Max had recognized her instantly. Considering her resemblance to Heidi, Max assumed Alicia to be her sister.

The next hour was spent in following them through the thick forest. It was only after a whole hour went by that Max realized that they had been walking around in circles. It made him wonder if they knew that he was after them. That was when he noticed Alicia staring in his direction with a slightly hopeful look in her eyes. He realized at once that Alicia had noticed him and that he had forgotten to mask his presence.

 _Well, it's not like I can do anything else now._ He thought to himself as he cloaked his aura and reduced his presence to almost nil. Almost immediately, he saw a slight shock on his target's faces and smirked to himself. _Seems like we are not the only ones training. Pete must have forced them to train._

Max closed the distance between them quickly and stopped right behind them, near Alicia who was still staring at him, albeit wide-eyed. He didn't focus on her though as the three turned towards him at once.

Max knocked out Nick who was nearest to him as Dave directed a punch at him. Max bent down as the punch passed over his head, visibly disturbing the air around it. He then punched Dave in the gut hard enough for him to fall to his knees. Then he aimed a chop at his neck only to be interrupted by Ace who kicked him in the face and sent him flying into the tree behind, tearing it apart.

Ace got hold of Alicia and throwing her on the ground, put his left foot on her face as Max got up and glared at him. "Make a move and she dies," said Ace coldly, crushing her face into the ground once as if to show that it wasn't an empty threat.

"Alright, I won't," said Max, slowly getting up. As he walked towards Ace, he started forming an invisible aura disc in the palm of his hand.

"Don't you dare do anything suspicious," said Dave, apparently having caught his breath. He stood right behind Ace as if to make sure that Max didn't try making a surprise move. "And raise your hands up."

"Alright," said Max, suddenly raising both of his hands up. He was quite quick; the two didn't even have time to react as the sharp aura disc swung through the air and passed right through Ace's left foot, cutting it from his knee.

The suddenness of the attack took all of them by surprise as Max reached Alicia in a matter of a second. "I'd have liked to kill you," commented Max coolly as he made sure Alicia was okay while Dave helped out Ace who was screaming in pain. "But I had no intention of living with the guilt that would have followed. Unlike you, I have a conscience."

With that, Max teleported away – but not before Ace firing an aura sphere at him. The aura sphere hit him in the back as he teleported away. When he reappeared with Alicia, he was thrown away with the force into a tree in front of him. Alicia looked towards him, horrified as the tree fell down right on him.

Silence descended on the area as everything settled down. Alicia wiggled slowly towards where Max had been thrown. There was a movement before she could close the distance between them and the tree suddenly moved to the left with its branches shuffling the dust. The dust filled the air again, making Alicia cough against the gag in her mouth. Max slowly appeared from the dust cloud, coughing.

His clothes were tattered due to both, the aura sphere and the tree falling on him. His back was burnt, while most of his body had gotten bruised due to the tree suddenly falling on him. Thankfully, he had managed to avoid the tree from falling on his head which would have been the target had he not moved.

He walked away from the tree and sat down near Alicia. Alicia felt visibly relieved at seeing him okay. She made a sound and got his attention. Max went near her and pulled the gag out of her mouth. She gasped immediately and started breathing deeply to catch her breath.

"You're Max, right?" She asked tentatively, at length.

Max nodded. "How in the world did you trust that guy? Didn't you think something was wrong?"

She looked sheepish. "I did feel something was wrong, but since it was just a gut-feeling, I decided to ignore it."

"Worst mistake," remarked Max, sighing. "You should always follow your gut-feeling, no matter how senseless it seems."

"I figure as much," she said dryly. She then glanced at his injuries concerned. "But are you okay?"

"I'll be fine," said Max, closing his eyes and focusing on healing himself.

Alicia looked at the closing wounds, fascinated, and probably would have asked how he did it had it not been for the tight ropes still hampering her movement and making it uncomfortable for her. "Can you please cut these ropes after you're done?"

Max glanced briefly at the ropes and with a quick slash of his hands, cut them. He looked curiously at her. "I thought you could use aura."

Alicia grimaced as she rubbed her wrists, trying to get blood flowing through them normally. "I don't know when but Ace – that was the leader of the three – injected something into me. I just felt weak and also lost complete control of my aura. I couldn't use it at all."

Max glanced at her thoughtfully. He didn't comment and got up, dusting himself off. Alicia eyed him curiously. "You don't seem surprised that I suddenly lost control of my aura."

"Yeah, I'm not surprised," said Max, observing his tattered clothes. "Same thing happened with Bonnie." Alicia seemed curious about how he knew about that but Max continued with another question. "Do you feel feverish?"

"No; why do you ask?" she replied curiously.

"Did you see what they injected in you?" continued Max without answering her.

Alicia seemed a bit put off but answered anyhow. "No. He had hidden it in the palm of his hand."

Max seemed to ponder a bit at that. After a while, he clicked his tongue in annoyance and sighed. He turned to look at her. "Can you walk?"

"I think so," replied Alicia, getting up with his help. She tenderly put some weight on her right foot – which had been twisted badly thanks to Dave who had been carelessly pulling her. She winced slightly as her foot touched the ground. "I think I will be able to deal with this pain."

Max sighed to himself and bent down. Taking hold of her ankle, he started healing her. Alicia seemed surprised that he was doing that without her having asked him, and was about to stop him when Max gave her a reassuring look and shook his head slightly. Alicia smiled at his thoughtful attitude and let him continue.

It only took a few minutes to heal her ankle completely. When done, Alicia tried to walk and was surprised to see that she could walk normally without feeling any kind of pain. She turned and thanked Max for healing her ankle. Max simply waved her gratitude away and told her it was okay.

"Let's go back now," said Max grimly. "I want to check up on Cass and Serena."

Alicia stiffened up at their names as Max put a hand on her shoulder. Max noticed it immediately. "What happened?"

"I just realized how close I was to being violated," replied Alicia in a low voice and suddenly sat down. Max waited for her to continue. "They were discussing disgusting things and how satisfied they were about what they had done to 'those bitches'. I felt so horrified at hearing what they had done that I panicked. I wanted to escape but my mind wasn't clear – or calm – enough for me to think. That's why when I felt someone following me, I felt relieved. But then, they too sensed you and decided after confirming with each other to kill you if they got the chance. I was dismayed when I heard that. I thought I might lose my chance to escape."

She was trembling so Max sat down and put an arm around her shoulders. A few stray tears made their way down Alicia's face as she felt comforted in his arms. She turned and hugged him suddenly, letting herself cry on his shoulder much to his surprise. "I don't want to feel that kind of terror again." She mumbled just loud enough for him to hear.

Max, not knowing what else he should do, didn't speak a word and hugged her back gently. The two stayed like that for a while until Alicia calmed down and stopped trembling.

"Sorry about that," she said contritely as she separated from him. "I just couldn't control myself."

Max shrugged his shoulders and gave her a smile. "Let's go now."

Alicia nodded as Max put a hand on her shoulder, and the two teleported away.


	12. Moments

**Warning: Sexual Interaction in this chapter. Nothing too lemony but certainly sexual. Since this is the first time I have tried writing something like that, I can't guarantee that it's well-written. Also, I am changing the rating to M, just in case.**

* * *

Chapter 12: Moments

It was past eight in the morning when Bonnie reached the hospital after resting for about three hours. Without looking around, she made her way to Cass's room; Cass was already awake when she reached there. She gave her a grateful smile when she saw her. Bonnie walked up beside her and sat down on the chair near her. She squeezed Cass's hand reassuringly.

"Doc said he should be done by now," said Cass, glancing away from her momentarily. She turned back to her. "He says I should be okay; apparently, he couldn't believe when I woke up and healed myself so he's gone to do some kind of paperwork."

"That's good to hear," said Bonnie with a small smile. Her gaze hardened after that. "Did you the feel same things like me – you know, weakness and such?"

Cass made a face and shivered slightly. "Yeah," she replied. "I still don't know how I have been able to cope up with what happened last night."

Just when she said that, her doctor appeared and gave her the green signal, much to her relief. She got out of the bed and left the room with Bonnie, towards Serena's room which was in another wing of the hospital building.

Bonnie raised an eyebrow at her as they walked, waiting for her explanation. Cass noticed it and sighed. "Ace appeared just as I was about to be raped," she said expressionlessly. "I lost my consciousness then since I was being tortured repeatedly earlier." She paused, making Bonnie glance briefly at her. She continued eventually. "I have a feeling I am going to be charged with murder later on."

Bonnie wasn't surprised; she too wanted to kill them. She still didn't know why Ace hadn't finished them off – Cass had mentioned it – but she had a feeling that Ace had something in his mind about it.

They reached Serena's room and entered. Ash sat to the side, staring at Serena who was still unconscious. She had over fifty percent burns when Ace had found them and still wasn't healed internally completely. Considering how much of Ace's aura still flowed through Serena's body, Bonnie didn't want to interfere the healing process and end up burdening her body with more aura than what it could handle. And so, Bonnie had explained that to Ash who had believed it and sat down beside her. He hadn't moved since then.

Glancing briefly at him, neither Cass nor Bonnie said a word. Bonnie felt slightly unnerved when she noted how unstable Ash's aura was. It was obvious that he was incensed and was just waiting for Serena to wake up so that he could make a move. Cass's aura felt the same except that she had a lot more control over it than Ash.

Just then, the door opened again and Max appeared at the doorway. He briefly glanced at Ash, and then turned towards the two girls who gestured to him to enter. Max shook his head in response and signaled them to come out. Exchanging glances, Cass and Bonnie made their way out of the room and joined Max. They were surprised to see Alicia with him.

"Are you okay?" asked Max first, looking at Cass.

"I'll be fine," said Cass, her gaze hardening again. "I'd love to torture those guys though. I really don't care if I have to stay a couple of years in prison."

Alicia was shocked while Max simply nodded. He jerked his thumb towards Alicia and explained what had happened – leaving out the hugging part since it wasn't necessary for everyone to know. Alicia seemed grateful that he did so because she felt embarrassed, thinking about it in hindsight.

"Good to see you're okay," said Bonnie, nodding at the girl with a smile. "If you don't mind me asking, are you related to Heidi?"

Alicia nodded. "I'm her sister."

"Then you should go and talk to her. She's been worried sick after you disappeared," replied Bonnie, pointing down the hallway they were standing in. "I told her to go rest and that I will let her know when I find something about you."

Alicia nodded and with a quick thanks to Max, left. Bonnie, though, had noticed the way she had looked at Max. She turned towards him and raised an eyebrow.

Max chuckled uncomfortably. "I can't do anything about that."

Bonnie sighed and shrugged her shoulders. Then, she started explaining along with Cass what had been happening with her since she disappeared. Max looked grim when he heard what had happened with Serena.

Just then, Goodshow appeared at the end of the hallway and they saw him walking briskly towards them. As they wondered what work he had with them, he neared them and scrutinized them thoughtfully. It seemed like he wanted to tell them about something. Then, seemingly changing his mind, he simply smiled at them and pushed open the door to Serena's room.

"I hate to say this, Ash," he started, getting straight to the point, "but it seems like we will have to continue the tournament. Either that or you will have to tell them what has been happening and risk a stampede of the public outside; they are still waiting to hear from you."

"Resume the tournament then," said Ash, without missing a beat. He didn't look away from Serena.

Goodshow seemed surprised at his quick reply. He opened his mouth to ask something again, but stopped before he could say anything, as if pondering if he should. Then, he spoke. "Alright, I will move you into the Top 8 directly. We'll start today at noon."

Without waiting for a reply, he left. Cass, Bonnie and Max stared after his leaving figure, and then glanced at each other. Without saying a word, they nodded and left towards their respective destinations. Cass went to the Pokémon Centre to call her mother, Bonnie went to the Lumiose Gym in hopes of finding her brother and father, while Max left to find his sister, May, who he had heard was still staying along with their parents.

* * *

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen!" The loudspeakers blared as the clock struck twelve and the audience cheered deafeningly. "Due to some issues, we had had to put the tournament on hold yesterday. But now we have been given permission to resume, albeit with some changes." The audience waited as there was a pause in the announcement. "Ash Ketchum is not going to be present for quite a few days so he'll be joining us directly in the quarter finals. The rest of the matches will continue according to schedule."

The audience cheered again at the announcement, making the silent watchers wonder if the stadium was going to be able to hold up. No one knew why the tournament had been delayed, and no one cared. The only thing that mattered was that the tournament was underway now and everyone wanted to enjoy. It would have been a different scenario had they known what had been going on there.

"The first match today is Max from Hoenn and Alicia from Kalos!"

As he said that, the two trainers walked towards the battlefield confidently. They took the mics from the referee and sauntered to their respective sides, eyeing each other and wondering which pokémon were going to be used.

"Choose your pokémon," the referee said, glancing at the two briefly.

"Talonflame, let's go!" Alicia shouted as her pokémon appeared in front of her.

Observing the pokémon for a moment, Max chose his. "Abomasnow!"

"Battle begin!"

"Flame Charge, Talonflame!" commanded Alicia. Talonflame was outlined in red flames and kept on spinning about the battlefield for a moment before aiming at Abomasnow.

"Dodge," commanded Max calmly. Abomasnow waited until Talonflame was close enough and then stepped aside just as calmly as Max had ordered. Talonflame missed him completely and slowed himself down just in time or he might have hit the ground. But Alicia wasn't quick enough as Max ordered an Ice Punch.

Abomasnow's arm glowed blue and was engulfed in cold, icy aura as it hit Talonflame and froze him, complete with his flames. Alicia was concerned for a while until the ice started melting and Talonflame freed himself from it and flew away from the Grass/Ice-type pokémon.

"I wouldn't expect anything less," said Max, cocking his head to the side with a smile.

Alicia felt embarrassed at the straightforward praise and went a bit red. Then, she gave him a competitive smirk. "You are not the only one who trains hard, you know."

Max smirked back at her. "Well then, let's see how you deal with this. Abomasnow, Sheer Cold! Bring down the temperature of the stadium."

Abomasnow roared as the battlefield started freezing and ice started forming on the ground and the stadium walls. A few moments later, the whole stadium was covered with ice at least a foot thick. Most of the audience shivered uncontrollably; some of them left, unable to bear the cold.

Max – and Cass and Bonnie who were in the VIP seats – didn't bat an eye, as if everything was normal. Alicia was shivering too but it seemed like she knew how to deal with the cold. It didn't surprise Max when she used a bit of aura and covered herself with it to protect herself from the cold. He glanced at Cass and Bonnie briefly and then turned back to the battle.

"This is nothing that I can't deal with," said Alicia, her teeth chattering a bit as she looked back at Max. "Talonflame, Overheat, followed by Brave Bird!"

Talonflame shot a large swirling ball of fire directly towards Abomasnow. As soon as the fire hit him, Talonflame got covered in a light blue aura and headed straight at Abomasnow, hitting him in the stomach and sending him flying to the edge of the battlefield. Before he could get up, Alicia commanded Talonflame to keep on using Flame Charge and speed himself up.

Max narrowed his eyes as Abomasnow got up. He glanced at the red streak that Talonflame formed as he circled in the sky.

"Ingrain, Abomasnow," he commanded after some time.

Abomasnow's body glowed green and he stared at the circling fire/flying-type overhead, following his every move.

"Talonflame, be ready," called Alicia warningly as she observed her opponent's movements.

There was a tense moment for a while. Then, Max suddenly shouted, "Now!"

Just as he said that, giant light brown roots shot out of the ground with lightning speed towards Talonflame.

"Talonflame!" shouted Alicia, as the bird tried to dodge but was only able to avoid letting the roots hit his body; they instead hit his wing and sent him spinning into the sky, but Abomasnow hadn't let up and it wasn't more than a second before the roots had completely got hold of the bird pokémon.

"Throw Talonflame to the ground and use Wood Hammer," continued Max, quickly ordering the next moves.

Abomasnow did as directed and smashed Talonflame into the ground. Then, he jumped as his arm took a shape of a stump, and slammed the stump right into Talonflame's head. After the move, he jumped away.

Much to the two's surprise, Talonflame wasn't knocked out; he got up forcefully, not wanting to go down without a fight. Alicia seemed to observe Talonflame and after they exchanged glances, it was obvious that the battle was still on.

"You sure you want to continue?" asked Max, still wanting to make sure.

Alicia sighed. "Talonflame won't listen even if I said anything," she said with a shrug of her shoulders.

Max chuckled. He gave a serious look to her afterwards. "You better not hold me responsible if anything bad happens. Abomasnow, Wood Hammer! Enhance it with aura."

Abomasnow grinned at his trainer and then started running towards Talonflame fast – way faster for his species – as his arm turned into a stump and started glowing blue, instead of green.

"Talonflame!" Alicia shouted as the stump hit him and sent him flying into the frozen stadium wall, cracking not only the ice but also the wall itself.

But somehow, Talonflame was still conscious. Max was impressed with the pokémon's tenacity but he still didn't understand why he – and his trainer as well when he glanced at her – was being so stubborn. No one – person or pokémon – in their right mind would endanger their lives for a mere battle. He stared meditatively at the fire/flying-type for a while as he flew up and slowly started circling above Abomasnow, waiting for Alicia's command.

Alicia bit her lip as she made a note of all the damage to her precious pokémon. It was only when she made an eye-contact with Talonflame that she decided to go ahead, albeit a bit unsurely. "Talonflame, Flame Charge into Brave Bird!"

Talonflame surrounded himself with red flames and sped himself up for some time as both Max and Abomasnow stared at him. After he had sped up, he dived down towards the Grass/Ice-type as the red flames got surrounded by a light blue aura, speeding up the dive further.

Max decided at that moment that enough was enough. He nodded at Abomasnow who seemed to sigh at his decision. He turned back just as Talonflame appeared in front of him. Without a second's delay, he froze the bird-type in ice at least one foot thick and then sat down near him, observing the bird's injuries.

"That's enough, Alicia," said Max calmly as Alicia looked worriedly at her pokémon. "Any more and it will seriously damage and maybe, handicap Talonflame as well. His life will never be the same."

Bonnie and Cass, who were starting to worry about Talonflame's condition, nodded at Max; he had taken the right decision.

"I know," said Alicia in a small voice, looking away from the frozen statue of the fire-type bird. "It's just that Talonflame refuses to listen to reason."

"Well then, make sure he learns to do so," said Max, glancing at the referee and nodding.

The referee nodded back and declared him the winner.

Max returned Abomasnow back and walked towards the frozen Talonflame. He reached there, along with Alicia. The two returned their mics to the referee as Bonnie's Braixen appeared before them. She melted out the ice in a minute and freed the unconscious pokémon.

Max surveyed the injuries and wasn't surprised to find the wing broken as well as some broken bones around the back of Talonflame – obviously from having been thrown into the wall of the stadium. He started healing the pokémon while the medics arrived. Alicia seemed too ashamed to even look him in the eye. When the medics arrived and took Talonflame, Alicia muttered a small 'Thank you'.

She was about to leave but Max stopped her. He gave her a reassuring smile and a comforting squeeze to her shoulder. "We can work on this later," he said with a nod.

Alicia smiled back weakly and left the battlefield with Max staring after her thoughtfully.

* * *

"When is your battle, Cass?" asked Bonnie as the two walked out of the stadium and on the main street.

"About six in the evening," replied Cass. "That gives us about five hours to do whatever we want."

"I think both of us know what we want to do, right?" asked Bonnie, glancing meaningfully back at Cass. Cass nodded back at her.

Just then, they saw Max walking out of the stadium. Alicia had already left by then along with the medics. They waved at him and gestured him to come over. He waved back and jogged towards them.

"What's up with Alicia?" asked Bonnie as they started walking in the direction of hospital which had turned into their second home by now. "Why was she being so stubborn?"

"I suppose she has her reasons," said Max with a sigh. "And it was apparent to me that she wasn't comfortable discussing about them."

The two girls nodded. They were going by the Pokémon Centre when an interesting sight caught Cass's eye. She glanced briefly inside the Pokémon Centre and then turned back to her two friends. "You two, go ahead. I have got to ask Nurse Joy something. And when you are home, keep a bit of lunch aside for me."

Without waiting for an answer, she entered the Pokémon Centre, leaving the two to their own devices. The two glanced at each other and shrugged off Cass's sudden decision. They decided to go to Bonnie's household for lunch.

Half an hour later, they were done with the lunch and were lounging around in the drawing room, wondering what had been taking Cass's time. Since they had been mostly silent since they left the stadium, Bonnie wanted to make small talk.

"So what's up with you and Alicia?" she asked, glancing at Max briefly before staring at the ceiling.

Max seemed surprised at her question. "You think there's something? I was pretty much myself all the time."

"True, but it seems like Alicia sees you differently," said Bonnie, turning to look at him curiously. "I bet if given a chance, she would want to at least date you."

"Well, I don't think you can blame her," said Max after a thoughtful pause. "What would you do if you were powerless and some guy saves you?"

"I guess you have a point," conceded Bonnie after a pause.

"Why'd you ask though? Jealous?" asked Max as a small grin formed on his face. "Don't tell me you're jealous of other girls getting closer to me."

"Oh, don't worry about that; I am not jealous," replied Bonnie quickly. "But I would be jealous if _you_ ended up getting close to someone else."

Max whistled in surprise. He turned to glance at the blonde girl who was staring at him. Their eyes locked for quite some time before Bonnie broke the eye-contact and looked away from him briefly.

"Say," she started tentatively. "Have you had your first kiss yet?"

A grin slowly started forming on Max's face. "Where did that come from?"

"Can't I be a bit curious?"

"You sure can, but that wasn't the topic we were discussing."

"Why don't you just answer?"

"Why don't you outright say what you want?"

"Because it would be awkward if I said I wanted to fuck you sometime."

The reality of what she said made Bonnie go red as she slowly looked at Max who had a shocked look on his face. The awkward eye-contact lasted for quite a long while which Bonnie broke by suddenly getting up. She apologized uncomfortably and started walking to her room thoroughly embarrassed at what she had said.

"Well, that's interesting."

Max's words made her stop and turn around. He had a grin on his face and his eyes twinkled. "I didn't know you had such wild thoughts in your mind," he said teasingly. Seeing her getting more uncomfortable only made him guffaw loudly.

"Oh, just shut up," muttered Bonnie, glaring at him. If looks could kill, Max would have been dead by now.

"Yeah, okay, I will stop," said Max, still chuckling as he turned to look at her. He shook his head in disbelief. "I knew you had a thing for me but it would be better if it isn't just a spur-of-the-moment thing."

"It isn't," snapped Bonnie, looking at Max as if she couldn't believe what she had just heard from him. "Do you really think I wouldn't know all your faults by now?"

"I'm just making sure, okay?" said Max, getting up from his position and walking up to her. "I don't want to regret anything."

"You won't," said Bonnie with conviction, looking him in the eye.

Seeing the sincerity in her eyes made Max believe her words. "I know I won't," he replied with a small smile as he touched his forehead to hers. "I know I won't regret anything when I'm with you."

The sudden close proximity between them made Bonnie a bit self-conscious which was quite a strange feeling to her. She had never been so honest in front of someone else and now that she was, it made her feel different – as if the person she loved might judge her for something that she might have no control over – which, again, was just anxiety on her part.

She looked into Max's steady, compassionate eyes and had an urge to kiss him. She gave in at once and suddenly pulled him in. Her lips clung to his for a long time before she let his tongue slip into her mouth. Max's tongue explored her mouth and they wrestled with their tongues while Max's hand caressed her back, making her shiver with the gentle touch. His hand slowly made its way down to her hips and massaged there for some time before going back up slowly against her back.

The feeling only made Bonnie wanting it to continue longer as they separated for a moment to take a breath – only for them to crash their lips together and start making out. It got intense soon enough as they slowly made their way to her bedroom, their faces still buried into each other.

Bonnie turned Max around and pushed him on the bed suddenly. She then jumped on him and again started kissing him as he caressed her back again, making her shiver in his arms.

"I didn't know you were so sensitive to touch," said Max with a grin when they separated.

"I didn't either," said Bonnie, a playful smile on her lips.

Max sat up with Bonnie still on his lap and the two kissed again. "But, is this necessary _right now_?" He asked as she pulled away.

"Well, with only half the time on my hands, I don't think I would like to delay any longer," replied Bonnie, cocking her head to the side as she looked Max in the eye.

"I suppose so," said Max pensively. "But I don't have a condom right now. Do you still want to risk it?"

"Unprotected is the best," said Bonnie dismissively. "Besides, abortion is still a choice."

Max shook his head in disbelief. "I can't believe you are willing to do this. And I used to think you were just an innocent kid."

Bonnie smirked at him. "You should have known better. Besides, you have already seen me naked and had a boner. Did you think I wouldn't notice?"

"So you did?" He looked at her, a bit embarrassed. "I was hoping that you would ignore it."

Bonnie shook her head and closed the distance between them. "You should know me better," she whispered in his ear, making him shiver slightly.

"Hey, you can't expect me to know what you do privately, you know," complained Max. "I respect everyone's privacy and I expect the same."

"Well, you have a point," admitted Bonnie. She then touched her forehead to his. "There are many reasons why I love you and this is one of them. I need my personal space and I am glad to see you respect that."

"You're right, but," he eyed her cleavage which was right in front of him, "it seems like you don't want that to happen right now."

"Right," she agreed with a smirk. She tugged at her top lightly as she looked him in the eye. "Do you want to?"

"Why not?"

Max took hold of her collar and tore the top right through the middle, exposing her completely from the front. She was wearing a bra but it was obvious that her boobs were firm and huge, exactly the way he had thought them to be. He glanced at her and felt slightly surprised at seeing her embarrassed. Nevertheless, he gave her a look that asked for her permission. She nodded.

He slowly stroked her right breast and was surprised to see that it was huge enough for his hand to not be able to hold it completely. He did the same with her left breast – exact feeling.

"Are they okay?" asked Bonnie hesitantly.

Max buried his face into her boobs. "You call this 'okay'?" Bonnie heard his muffled voice. "They are the dream of all the men on earth. And I am the lucky one who gets to fondle them."

As he said that, he stroked them again. Bonnie shivered at the touch and gave a self-conscious laugh. "I am glad to hear that," she said, looking down at Max's buried head.

"Like I told you," said Max, looking back at her. "No pair could be more perfect." There was a pause. "But tell me something first: why are we discussing this stuff in the first place?"

There was another pause after which the two burst out laughing. They laughed for quite some time before they heard a muffled snort right outside the bedroom door. It only took a second for the two to realize that they had forgotten to lock the door. Cursing themselves, Bonnie searched for something to wear on top while Max straightened himself up and walked to the door.

Cass sat outside, beside the door trying to hide her laughter; she had a camera in her hand and it was running. Max realized at once what she was up to.

"What the hell, Cass!?" He shouted, snatching the camera from her.

"I am really sorry, okay?" said Cass, bursting out in laughter. "I couldn't help recording it all when I walked in and saw you two making out."

Bonnie glared at her as she walked outside the bedroom while Max checked the camera for recordings. And he found one – from the moment Bonnie had pulled him in until recently where they had ended up chatting. For some reason, seeing it all in footage made it all the more embarrassing for the two of them.

"You really should learn to respect someone's privacy," said Max, deleting the video. He felt mortified.

Cass stopped laughing and shrugged her shoulders. "It's hardly my fault if you keep the door open. How in the world am I supposed to know you were going to make love?"

"Don't say it out loud like that!" exclaimed Bonnie, feeling humiliated even though she was pretty sure that that would have been the case had they not been interrupted.

"By the way, what makes you think I didn't know you were smitten with each other?" asked Cass curiously as her eyes twinkled at the two mortified friends.

"We aren't smitten, okay?" said Max a bit forcefully.

"Okay, may be 'smitten' is a strong word but you sure as hell are into each other," said Cass laughing. "I mean I haven't ever seen even married couples discuss about contraceptives, sex, periods and all that kind of stuff without getting embarrassed but there you were, discussing about that without any kind of hesitation – not even when talking about each other."

"We are just that comfortable near each other, okay?" said Bonnie, reddening as she glanced at Max who had gone red as well.

"Yeah, right," scoffed Cass. "You are _too_ comfortable around each other for my liking. It's like I have become a third wheel now."

"L-Let's just forget about this now," said Max, giving up completely. "Let's just pretend this never happened, okay?"

"Okay," agreed Cass with a playful smile on her face. "Although, I still doubt I will forget about what I saw."

Max and Bonnie glanced away from each other, unable to look at her or each other in the eye. Cass shook her head at them. "You're going to be uncomfortable around each other _now_ of all times?" She asked, looking at them.

"This wouldn't have happened if you had not interrupted," said Max, glancing briefly at her.

"Yeah," agreed Bonnie, never looking back at them. Cass sighed in slight annoyance.

"Anyway, do you want to know why I told you to go ahead?" She asked, getting the two's attention at once.

"Yeah; we had started to wonder what you had been up to," replied Max, his tone curious. "Tell us why you were so late."

"Sure, but let's first sit outside," said Cass, walking towards the sofa in the drawing room. "It's a bit long."

* * *

 _The clock struck one as Cass entered the Pokémon Centre. She glanced briefly outside and saw Max and Bonnie walking away. She turned back to look at what had caught her attention – it was Cole, and Heidi too. She had watched them just as they had turned down one of the hallways in the Pokémon Centre. It was just a hunch but she felt she could discover something that could be useful._

 _She turned down the same hallway and followed them as they walked into one of the room along the right side. She stopped outside the door, considering if she should just barge in and then decided against it. She rapped on the door rather sharply. That elicited a quick response inside as the door opened, revealing Alicia. Cole and Heidi were sitting on the bed inside._

 _"Cass?!" Cole exclaimed. "How come you are here?"_

 _"Sorry, but I saw you walking in with Heidi and couldn't help but be curious," replied Cass frankly as she walked in, letting Alicia close the door after her._

 _"Well, that's fine," said Heidi. "You're Bonnie's friend, aren't you?"_

 _"Yeah," replied Cass and paused. She continued almost immediately. "If you don't mind me asking, why are you all so tense?"_

 _The three froze instantly and exchanged glances with each other. Then they looked back at Cass. Cass had noticed their reaction and felt decidedly uncomfortable as she looked back at them._

 _Cole broke the tense silence after some time with a sigh. "Why don't you sit down first? You will find out everything soon enough."_

 _The other two girls glanced at him briefly and then looked back at Cass who had sat down on the bed._

 _"So, what do you want to know exactly?" asked Cole, raising an eyebrow at Cass._

 _Cass shrugged her shoulders in response. "Tell me what you know – anything that might help give a break in recent kidnappings. I only followed you because I felt something was definitely off about the way you behaved."_

 _Cole was silent for a while. He then gestured Alicia towards one of the drawers in the room. Alicia went there and pulled out a square paper; she handed it over to Cass who examined it inquisitively._

 _All it said was '25'. That's it. Nothing else._

 _"I found that after I left from the hospital once Max had introduced me to you and Bonnie," said Alicia. "It was in the back pocket of my jeans." She paused for a moment as Cass looked at her. "I recall just now that I had been unconscious for some time after they injected the drug into me so there's a chance that they might have … you know…"_

 _"Yeah, I got you," said Cass, knowing what Alicia meant. She turned towards Cole after examining the paper again. "What did you find about it?"_

 _"Hold it against the light," said Cole. Cass obliged and was surprised to see a faded watermark that depicted Team Rocket's symbol. She stared at it for a second as realization dawned on her._

 _"And then?" She asked, glancing back at the three. "What did you then?"_

 _"You see," started Cole after a slight pause. "After I left that day when the Lumiose City Gym Leader, Clemont told Ash that Giovanni, Team Rocket's boss was after him, I had searched a bit about him, and I found out that he's here in Kalos. I managed to find his criminal record and well, he's too dangerous to even be alive; the thing is that he had been sentenced to death earlier but had managed to escape. And three years ago was the second time that he was captured – and he still escaped. I have a feeling there's more to why he hasn't given up yet."_

 _Cass whistled in surprise. "You certainly know your shit. It's amazing how you found all of that out."_

 _Cole rubbed the back of his head bashfully. "I am interested in this hacking and stuff and I have been doing this since I learnt how to use computers and internet," he said, slightly self-conscious. Then, he looked at her seriously. "I also somehow managed to find and hack into Team Rocket's database and I copied all the data that seemed related to what had been happening."_

 _"It just occurred to me now," interrupted Cass, narrowing her eyes. "But how do you know what has been happening around here?"_

 _Cole looked sheepish. "I overheard you talking with Bonnie about Heidi's strange demeanor. And since I had noticed that as well, I asked her…"_

 _"You mean badgered," corrected Heidi with slight distaste evident in her voice._

 _"And after that you did you research, I presume?" added Cass, glancing back at Cole who nodded. She was silent for a while, mulling over the information she had found._

 _"There's also another thing that bothered me," said Alicia, getting her attention._

 _"What is it?" She asked, looking her in the eye._

 _Alicia paused for a moment. "Something was not right when I left with Ace. I mean he was Ace and wasn't at the same time. I just had had the gut feeling that he wasn't the real one."_

 _"Oh, about that; you are right," said Cass, much to the other three's shock. "The one you went with was the doppelganger of the real one. They are pretty much the same except their different personalities and aura signatures."_

 _"So you were right after all!" exclaimed Heidi, glancing at her sister. She sighed. "That makes it easy." She turned towards Cass. "Frankly, I couldn't believe when I saw you talking with Ace. I was pretty sure you had a part in it Alicia's kidnapping."_

 _"Even when you trusted Bonnie?" asked Cass rhetorically. "And when did you see us?"_

 _"I didn't see you," said Heidi, shaking her head. "Alicia felt your auras somewhere in the forest and told me."_

 _Cass looked surprised and turned towards Alicia. "I didn't know you had such a large range."_

 _Alicia gave a self-conscious laugh. "After having been stalked quite a lot of times, I started taking aura seriously and trained to increase my sensing range. I think it has become like a second nature to me."_

 _"I am not surprised about the stalking part," said Cass shrewdly. "Bonnie, and even Max, have been stalked. I still look like a kid so no one bothers me."_

 _She briefly glanced at Cole who had a don't-tell-them-anymore expression on his face as he glared at her; it made her want to laugh out loud._

 _"I am not too surprised about that," said Alicia. "Both of them are sexy as fuck. I would honestly be surprised if they are not already dating."_

 _Cass opened her mouth but then closed it, deciding to let the two – Max and Bonnie – choose when to tell everyone about their relationship. Instead, she said, "Anyway, what are you going to do now? You know, about Team Rocket's involvement."_

 _"Apparently, you are doing the same thing now, right? Trying to solve this case – or whatever you call it," said Cole, raising an eyebrow at her._

 _"Yeah," replied Cass. "You intend to join us?"_

 _"I don't see why not," said Cole, shrugging his shoulders as he looked at the other two girls. They nodded at Cass._

 _"How well can you use aura?" asked Cass at length._

 _"Well…" None of the three knew how to reply to that question._

 _Cass sighed. "Alright, let's fight outside, somewhere in the forest," she said, getting up. "I should be able to judge if you can help us or burden us. Let's go."_

 _Cass teleported all of them outside the city in their usual training spot. She then at once went to the other end of the clearing. "Who is first?" She shouted when she reached there._

 _After a second of exchanging glances, Alicia stepped forward. "Let's start."_

 _"Alright then," said Cass, as she got into her fighting stance. Alicia readied herself as well. Cass called to her. "You start, Alicia."_

 _"Okay then; here I come," said Alicia as she charged up her aura. Cass waited for her to make a move._

 _Alicia started with a simple aura sphere and shot it towards Cass, who easily dodged it. But she didn't see Alicia having closed the distance between them and was a bit taken aback to already see her aiming a punch at her. She deflected it and aimed a punch at Alicia, who bent back and dodged it – only to be taken by surprise when Cass kicked her legs from below her._

 _As she lost her balance, she brought up her leg and tried to kick Cass who easily dodged her. Alicia fell down while Cass charged up her aura and punched the fallen Alicia in the gut, knocking the air out of her. Not giving her a chance, she punched with her other hand, making Alicia throw up blood, and then kicked her on the side of her torso, sending her sliding across the clearing._

 _"Don't hold back, Alicia," said Cass as she slowly walked towards the gasping girl. "Your fear of hurting others is stopping you from giving your all."_

 _"I… know," wheezed Alicia in a rasping voice. She slowly got up and started charging up her aura as Cass neared her. When Cass was in her range, she kicked towards her ribs. She made contact – but with her opponent's forearm. Cass also had balled her other hand into a fist and kept it just outside the block her forearm formed, ripping a tendon in Alicia's foot when it hit her._

 _Alicia screamed in agony as she fell back and held her throbbing foot as the internal injury worsened. Cass felt it and decided that the fight was enough._

 _"You should really know that your enemy could use your strength to harm you severely in any way possible," said Cass as she went about to heal Alicia's injury. "You could have chosen to aim an aura sphere towards me to distract me and then kicking at me. That way, you would have injured me."_

 _Alicia didn't say a word for some time as she let Cass heal her. She seemed curious. "Who taught you really?"_

 _"Ace," replied Cass. "His training was a lot more brutal than this. You would think he wanted us to fight us till we died."_

 _Cole whistled in admiration. "And you managed to survive that? All three of you?"_

 _"Yeah," said Cass, getting up; she was done with the healing._

 _Alicia got up with her help and tentatively put some weight on her leg. It didn't hurt at all. She turned towards Cass. "You should really teach me how to use aura to heal like this."_

 _"Yeah, sure," said Cass with a small smile. She then turned towards the other two. "So, who is next?"_

 _"Me," replied Heidi, standing opposite to her._

 _Cass pondered for a moment. She then turned towards Cole. "Why don't you fight along with her? I want to see how well your teamwork is."_

 _"Sure," agreed Cole with a shrug. "But are you sure?"_

 _Cass smirked. "You shouldn't underestimate me; I have never seen you underestimate either Bonnie or Max."_

 _Cole got the implied meaning and went a bit red. "I am not underestimating you either. I just wanted to make sure since your battle is later on today."_

 _Cass shook her head at him. "Well, thanks for caring but I will be fine. I can't guarantee about you though."_

 _"We'll see about that," said Cole with a smirk as he stood in front of her. "Let's start."_

 _As he said that, Heidi shot an aura sphere at Cass; she easily dodged it but Cole, by then, had already closed the distance between them. He kicked her legs from under her as Heidi appeared near her and aimed a punch in her stomach. Cass, having been taken completely by surprise, only had a second to react; she did react and deflected the punch right beside her into the ground. The ground cracked due to the punch so Cass had already got an idea how much their raw strength was._

 _She kicked Cole, who was moving in for another well-aimed punch, in the face and sent him flying. Heidi got distracted and Cass took the advantage. Her balled fist immediately connected with Heidi's jaw and threw her away due to the force. Immediately getting up, Cass picked up Heidi with her leg and spun her around in the air just long enough for her to get an aim at Cole who was just getting up._

 _She threw Heidi across the battlefield just as Cole got up. Heidi's head hit him in the stomach and the two crumpled in a heap. Cass then waited for them to get up. Heidi got up, rubbing her head; she was going to have a huge bump on the head by night. Cole had all the wind knocked out of him so he was still gasping for air._

 _"Come on; this is nothing," said Cass tauntingly. "Your teamwork could still be way better if you knew how to use your aura. The way you started was really good – especially since I didn't know how you fought – but I figured it out really easily; you were giving me too many hints about the way you fought."_

 _"We are not done yet," said Cole as he slowly got up, panting a bit. "We can still take you by surprise."_

 _He took a deep breath and then disappeared. Heidi apparently already knew where this was heading to as she disappeared as well. But they weren't safeguarding enough; Cass could easily see them even without her aura vision. They were running really fast and leaving dust behind. Cass simply assumed that they were going to attack suddenly and decided to wait patiently._

 _Her patience came to fruition as she felt Cole's aura-packed punch coming towards her. Since she didn't have enough time to dodge because of its speed, she did the next possible thing – she blocked it. As soon as Cole's punch contacted her palm, she grabbed it tightly. Cole stopped so suddenly that his shoulder made an audible cracking sound._

 _Seeing this, Heidi stopped quickly only to have Cole thrown at her. The two hit each other and crumpled down in a pile._

 _"You guys really don't know how to use aura to the fullest," said Cass with a sigh. "But considering the fact that you learnt this all by yourself, I must admit I am impressed by the progress."_

 _"Why don't you teach us then?" asked Alicia as she went and helped Heidi and Cole up. "Wouldn't that be helpful in the long run as well?"_

 _"I suppose so," said Cass as she started healing Cole's broken shoulder. After she was done, she checked the time – it was just past two. She turned back to the other three. "If you don't mind, I guess I will talk to Ace to train you; we should be able to continue with the investigation as well."_

 _After a small discussion, they agreed, albeit still a bit unsurely. Cass picked up on that and sighed to herself. "Anyway, let's go back now. Once you are back, Alicia and Cole, you two should really rest just in case."_

 _The four then teleported back to Alicia's room._

* * *

"After that, I was going to directly teleport to you two," said Cass as a small grin started forming on her face, "but your aura felt intertwined so I decided to play it safe and appeared in the drawing room; I wasn't disappointed."

"Can we stop discussing about _that_?" said Bonnie, emphasizing on the word 'that' as she glared at her friend.

"Alright, I won't comment any more," said Cass laughingly. She then turned serious. "But what I found out during my excursion was nothing short of a surprise. I didn't know those three could use aura. I take it you didn't know either."

The two nodded, agreeing that they had no idea about that.

 _Well, that makes things easy,_ thought Max to himself. _It would have been too much trouble explaining everything to them._

"So now, they want to help as well, huh?" said Bonnie rhetorically.

Cass nodded once. She then headed towards the kitchen. "If you don't mind, I would like to eat my lunch before it gets any colder."

She disappeared into the kitchen as the other two nodded. They exchanged glances as they considered their next move.

"Hey guys, why don't you go and see if the police have found anything interesting?" Cass's voice came from the kitchen. "It has been quite some time since we last talked to them. After that, we should rest – at least I will, at any rate. I hope you two don't miss my match with Cole."

"Yeah, sure," called Bonnie, answering Cass. She then looked at Max who nodded.

Just as they were about to leave, Cass's voice rang out again. "Also, if you don't mind, can you talk to Ace about their training? Tell him I checked them out and they seem to be useful. That should get his attention."

"Alright!" Max shouted back. He then turned towards Bonnie and said, "You go check with the police; I will talk to Ace."

"Okay," said Bonnie without hesitation. She then paused and stared at him for a moment, before hugging him. "You better come back quickly," she said seductively as she rubbed her chest against his softly. "I still want to continue what was interrupted."

Max gave her a wild grin. "You better remember that. I will take that on its face value."

With that exchange, the two left the house, but not before Cass having seen it. She grinned to herself as she stuffed her mouth with food. _Yeah, those two are sure as hell smitten with each other._

* * *

Serena's eyes fluttered open slowly. She slowly got up, only to fall back due to the intense pain all over her body.

"Serena?" She heard Ash's voice and slowly turned her head to her right to see Ash staring at her with kindness and compassion. "Are you okay?" He asked, gently placing his hand on hers.

"I don't know," said Serena after a bit of silence. She winced as she tried to move again. "Maybe not."

Ash squeezed her hand softly. "You will be fine." He paused. "Do you remember what had happened with you?"

There was a pause. "I don't," replied Serena listlessly. "All I remember is a sharp, sudden pain in my head; I was knocked out after that. The only thing I remember after that is waking up here right now."

Ash sighed in relief to himself when she said that. She needed to heal and the last thing that she should remember was what had happened to her. It might affect her mentally and hinder her healing. Now that she looked okay, Ash decided to move.

He got up and gently kissed her. Then promising to be back soon, he left the room in search of Cass, Max, or Bonnie. The first place that he checked was the Pokémon Centre. The nurse there told him that Cass had already left; she didn't know where.

But Ash had an idea where they could be. He headed towards the Prism Tower where Bonnie and the family lived. His hunch was right when he reached there just in time to see Cass closing the door to the household. Cass must have noticed him for she turned towards him midway through her action of closing the door.

"What's up?" asked Cass, still keeping a hand on the door handle as she turned to face him.

Ash observed her. "You seem okay for someone who almost was violated."

Cass shrugged but didn't respond with an answer. Instead, she asked. "What brings you here?"

"Well, Serena just woke up," replied Ash. "She doesn't remember anything that happened to her so I think I should do something to catch those criminals."

"Something like what?" asked Cass, opening the door completely. "You must have thought something, right?"

"Well… I haven't," replied Ash after a slight pause. "I was hoping you could help me with that."

"We should sit inside then," said Cass, gesturing him in. "Max and Bonnie have gone to the police to see what they have found."

Ash nodded and followed her in. The two decided to wait out there until either of the other two managed to find something interesting.

* * *

"What the hell do you want, Max?" Ace looked at the trainer, seemingly exasperated at his presence. "Why do you have to bother me all the damn time?"

"Come on, we haven't even talked with you as much as the time when we happened to be travelling together," said Max, rolling his eyes at him. "You can't be exasperated at me like that."

"Well, what do you want? Be quick about it," said Ace, glaring at him.

Max sighed. "Well, it would be great if you could um… train some friends of mine."

"Why should I?" retorted Ace back instantly. "I am not obligated to do so."

"I know that," said Max with a sigh. "We wouldn't have bothered asking you if we could do that ourselves."

"And why can't you?"

"We are trying to deal with Team Rocket, and you know that," said Max, narrowing his eyes at him. "We are busy enough with that and the tournament. That's why we are asking you – since you aren't helping with Team Rocket at all."

Ace sighed. "What makes you think I will train them?"

"Cass said so," replied Max at once. "She fought them, apparently, and she must have seen something in them that compelled her to tell that to us."

"Well, I do trust her instinct," said Ace thoughtfully. "Who are they?"

"They are in the tournament," replied Max, relieved that Ace seemed interested. "Heidi, Bonnie's opponent; Alicia, my opponent; and Cole, that idiot who stalked Bonnie."

" _Those_ three?" asked Ace, raising an eyebrow at him. "I understand about Alicia; she's okay-ish with her aura but I doubt about the other two."

"Apparently, Cass doubts as well," said Max. "But their teamwork was great."

There was a pause as Ace seemed contemplative. After a while, he spoke. "Alright, how about I see their teamwork myself? Tell them to meet me in that clearing where you have been training since the beginning of the tournament."

"Alright then," said Max, turning around. "When should I tell them to see you?"

"Right after Cass's battle with Cole," replied Ace. "I should be able to figure out Cole after his battle."

Max nodded and left Ace alone, relieved that that had worked out better than he expected. Ace was the last person to ask for training but they hadn't a choice since no one was as skilled with aura as he was. Chances were really low that Ace would take up the offer but Max was glad that he had done so. It would help them in the long run.

* * *

"Bonnie? Yeah, I remember you," said Officer Jenny, looking up from her work. "Do you want to talk about something?"

"Just the Team Rocket case," replied Bonnie as she sat down in front of the officer. "Something has come up, and Ash, apparently, wants the info."

Officer Jenny nodded, happy to know that any information from her side would be helpful. "What do you want to know?"

"Just about anything that might be useful," said Bonnie. "How about you start with what you have found so far after our last talk?"

The officer was silent for a while. Eventually, she started. "If you are specifically asking about Team Rocket case, then there's one thing that we have found."

Bonnie looked at her inquisitively as she pulled a file from her drawer and started going through all the filed pages. After some time, she stopped and passed the file across the desk to her. Bonnie saw the image and was shocked to say the least. The photo was that of Giovanni – wrapped in a pool of blood. There were obvious signs of fight as she saw the stabs on his body.

She turned to look at the officer in shock. "You mean…?"

"Yeah," said Officer Jenny with a nod. "From what we have found, Giovanni is dead."

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen, it's finally the time for the last battle of today!"

The blaring loudspeakers continued to fill the air with noise as the audience, riled up with earlier battles, cheered loudly.

"The battle is between Cassandra from Kalos and Cole from Sinnoh!"

As their names were announced, the two trainers walked down towards the battlefield, confidently staring down each other. Quickly taking the mics from the referee, they stood on their sides of the battlefield with their hands on their pokéballs.

"Knowing how strong you are," Cole's voice rang out in the stadium, "I think I will go with my strongest pokémon. Let's go, Serperior!"

"Let's see," said Cass thoughtfully, observing the grass-type pokémon. "Pyroar, let's go!"

"Battle begin!"

"Serperior, Leaf Storm!" yelled Cole.

A barrage of glowing green leaves surrounded Serperior which he then fired at Pyroar. The speed of the leaves was absurdly fast as they made their way to the fire-type pokémon who was ready to take them on.

"Burn them all, Pyroar," ordered Cass. Pyroar used a flamethrower and burned down all the glowing leaves even before they could reach near him. He had complete control of his flames since only the leaves were burnt; the flames touched nothing else, not even the battlefield.

Cole smirked as he ordered the next move. "Grass knot, then Energy Ball!"

Serperior's eyes glowed green and immediately, vines grew out near Pyroar's feet and bound him to the ground. Almost instantly after, Serperior fired a glowing green ball of energy at Pyroar. The energy ball was just as ridiculously fast as the earlier Leaf Storm as it hit Pyroar squarely in his face. The vines from Grass Knot kept him from flying so he bore the brunt of the attack with full force.

Not wanting to give a chance, Cole ordered his next moves. "Solar Beam; full power!"

Serperior easily kept up with the continuous commands as he fired a bright gold beam of light towards the still-disoriented Pyroar. The beam hit the fire-type squarely and forced him back.

"Is that all you've got?" asked Cass with a smirk.

The dust and smoke from the Solar Beam disappeared to show Pyroar who looked slightly dazed but otherwise alright. Cole and his pokémon gaped at the fire-type as he shook his head and reoriented himself.

"Pyroar, Hyper Beam! Sharpen it up and aim it at Serperior's head!"

Pyroar followed his trainer's command and formed a dark purple orb in front of its mouth which then slowly decreased in size until it was the size of a golf ball. Then Pyroar fired it at Serperior.

"Dodge it, Serperior!" Cole yelled out, panicked, as the sharp dark-purple beam neared the grass-type. Serperior barely dodged the beam; it scratched the side of his head and then passed right through the stadium wall behind only to explode outside the stadium. The explosion sent a strong shockwave through the stadium and ended up sending some little kids flying. Serperior gazed back at his opponent as a trickle of blood made its way down his pale green body.

Cole tried to calm himself down as he stared back at Cass with narrowed eyes. He knew that if Serperior hadn't reacted when he did, he would have lost his life right there. Cass, in the meantime, didn't seem as bothered; she exchanged glances with Pyroar and then turned her attention back to the battlefield.

"Serperior has great reflexes," she commented as her opponents looked at her. "You could train and hone them further."

"I don't really think I am in the right mood to talk about that, Cass," said Cole, glancing between her and Pyroar. "I am more interested in making sure Serperior is okay."

"Trust me, he'll be fine," said Cass with a shake of her head.

"I don't think I can trust you right now – not on this battlefield in any case," commented Cole as he racked his brains to try and find a weakness in his opponent.

"Good to see you thinking about that," said Cass with a small smile. She commanded her next move. "Incinerate!"

Pyroar charged up the move and shot a beam of orange, red, yellow and black fires at Serperior. The area the beam of fire covered was too large for Serperior to dodge easily – it was like a wall of flames – so there was no choice but to fight back with another attack.

"Use Leaf Storm!" ordered Cole.

"Don't let him escape, Pyroar," said Cass almost immediately. "Use Fire Fang if he tries."

Pyroar conceded immediately. He stopped with the previous attack and started running after the wall of flames as his fangs got covered with red-orange flames.

Cole gritted his teeth as he commanded to Serperior. "As soon as the fire stops, use Aerial Ace to get away from there!"

Cass smirked to herself when she heard him. _Too bad; Pyroar is quick on his feet and is remarkably agile. Serperior won't be able to escape easily._

Her prediction was on point. The flames from Pyroar's move, Incinerate hit the wall of leaves formed from the Leaf Storm and lost their strength since Serperior had made sure there were enough leaves for the fire to consume. As soon as the last bit of fire was gone, Serperior's body got covered with a clear, white aura and he readied himself for Aerial Ace.

He wasn't successful though.

As soon as he shot himself, he was stopped very suddenly as pain shot through his tail. He looked back to see Pyroar with his fangs stuck inside his tail near its end. Pyroar had a small smirk on his face as he held the grass-type there.

"I am really impressed with your Serperior's reflexes," said Cass, sounding awed. "He _almost_ escaped. Just a bit faster and Pyroar wouldn't have been able to catch up."

"That 'almost' doesn't really help if he gets caught anyway," said Cole, exchanging glances with his pokémon. "What do you think we can do about that?"

"Hmmm… you can give up," replied Cass with a smile, much to everyone's shock. "No one is forcing you to battle, right? So you should care more about your pokémon than worrying about some stupid title."

"I wouldn't really call the title of 'Pokémon Master' stupid," said Cole blankly. "It'll be disrespectful."

Cass shrugged carelessly. "What makes you think I care about respect? I am not going to respect that title; I will respect the person who actually wins that title. Until then, you won't see me doing that."

"Does that mean you are in this tournament to take that title?" asked Cole.

"No; I am here just for fun," replied Cass with a shrug and smile. "And mostly to fight strong trainers."

Cole sighed. "You don't really consider anyone here strong, do you? Your careless attitude makes it seem like that."

"Who says so?" said Cass rhetorically. "I already know who the strong trainers here are; I am only waiting to see which one I will be able to fight."

Cole simply sighed. He, then, narrowed his eyes at her. "Well, I hope you consider me strong."

"You _could_ have been strong," said Cass with a shake of her head. "You just didn't train in the right way."

"Ser!"

Their conversation was interrupted by the painful call of the grass-type who was gritting his teeth at the throbbing due to the fire fang of Pyroar who was still holding him down.

"Serperior, Dragon Tail! Throw Pyroar on the ground," ordered Cole, wanting this battle to quickly end.

Serperior's tail glowed green as Cass directed Pyroar to leave him and stay away. Serperior didn't stop though; he quickly turned his body around so his tail would slam into Pyroar. But Pyroar was ready; he jumped and let the tail pass harmlessly beneath him. However, it seemed like Serperior had anticipated that for he moved his tail almost instantly towards the falling Pyroar.

Pyroar quickly took advantage of Serperior's tail's momentum. He landed on the glowing tail and then used the impetus to jump away from Serperior's range. Serperior could only glare at the fire-type as he let his tail rest. The pain still stayed; his tail had started bleeding so both he and his trainer wanted to end this battle quickly. Exasperatingly, Cass wasn't being quick enough to finish the battle like her earlier one.

And Cass knew that as well. She was deliberately doing this. Ace had already told her through telepathy that he wanted to see what Cole was made of. He wanted her to extend the battle as much as possible to see how Cole dealt with things thrown at him that he couldn't control. And it seemed like she was being successful as she heard Ace telling her to finish up the battle.

She noted the exasperation on Cole's face and decided to speak up. "Say, Cole, how about we finish up this battle now? I feel it's been dragged out too long since you refuse to give up."

"As long as we go down with a fight, I don't think I mind it," replied Cole with a small smirk. "Leaf Blade, Serperior!"

The leafy part at the end of Serperior's tail glowed green as the grass-type closed the distance to his opponent. He then aimed to slash with the sharp blade at Pyroar.

"Let's finish this up, Pyroar," said Cass in the meantime. "Use Fire Fang to stop the Leaf Blade and then use your tail to knock him out."

Pyroar followed the orders and caught the glowing tail in his mouth and then twisting his body around, wrapped his tail around Serperior's neck. He then started tightening the grip around the neck, slowly closing the grass-type's windpipe.

"Serperior!" called Cole, horrified. He hadn't thought that was how Cass was going to end this battle. Before he could do anything though, Serperior fell down unconscious as Pyroar let go of his neck.

"Serperior is unable to continue. Pyroar wins. The winners of this battle are Cassandra and Pyroar."

The crowd cheered loudly as Cass returned Pyroar and left the battlefield. Serperior wasn't injured badly so there was no need to try and heal him; he would be able to heal naturally better.

She glanced back again after she was out the sight of the crowd. _Ace can take care of these guys now. The only thing worrying me currently is why neither Bonnie nor Max have come back yet. I should start searching for them now before I am too late._


	13. New Developments

Chapter 13: New Developments

"Where is he?" asked Alicia, glancing at Cass who was sitting under a tree and enjoying the breeze through her hair.

"He must be around somewhere," replied the dark-haired trainer. "Why don't you try to sense him? He must be in your range."

"Even if he is in my range, there is no way I can sense him if he can hide his presence even better than you," replied Alicia, exchanging glances with her other two companions – her sister, Heidi and their old friend, Cole.

"You sure can," said Cass, leaning slightly forward. "If you can focus your aura in your eyes and then look through it."

"I did try earlier but it is hard to keep it up," said Alicia with a small groan. "If I start looking around, I lose my focus."

"That's why you should train every day," said Cass, leaning back against the tree. "Everything requires practice."

"You could help, you know," said Cole bleakly. "I'd have stayed with Serperior."

"Didn't I tell you he'll be fine?" asked Cass with a sigh as she glanced at the forlorn trainer. "I will bring him here once he's healed completely at the Pokémon Centre."

Cole dolefully turned to look at the clear, sunny sky and made an expression as if he had given up. Cass could only sigh at him. "Look; I apologized already. Don't make me feel any guiltier."

Cole didn't turn his head; he continued to stare at the sky as time passed rather slowly. Cass was getting impatient by the minute. She had wanted to go after Bonnie and Max to see why they hadn't returned by the end of her match but she was stuck here, waiting for Ace to show up so she could leave the other three to him for training. Ace, however, was being pretty sadistic, she thought, as she glanced at her watch for the umpteenth time. He wasn't being quick enough.

After another long fifteen minutes, Ace finally showed up at the clearing. He simply nodded at Cass who nodded back and got up at once. It was apparent to her that Ace knew that she was impatient so she left the clearing as soon as he appeared after waving her friends goodbye. Ace waited until she disappeared and then turned towards the three who looked at him unsurely.

"I hear you fought Cass," commented Ace, glancing first at Alicia and then alternately between the other two. They nodded but had no idea what to say. Ace continued with another question. "Have you ever trained seriously with a clear goal and a reason behind it?"

There was a pause. Alicia broke the silence eventually. "I did start training my aura after I was being stalked. At least, I trained so that I could sense people even at a large distance from me."

"Can you sense Cass right now?" asked Ace instantly as he calmly observed their aura.

"I will try," said Alicia as she focused. It took her some time but she soon felt Cass running away from their location at a rapid pace. "I do sense her; she's almost out of my range."

"You took quite a long time to sense her," commented Ace. "You should have been able to perceive her instantly. But you're still better than hundreds of newbies I come across every day."

He then glanced at the other two whose aura was still a bit unstable. "Your teamwork is rather exceptional, I hear. But your control on aura is way worse than Alicia's."

"Well, of course," said Heidi with a roll of her eyes even before her mind could process what was being said. "Alicia's been training at least a year before we even started."

Ace seemed slightly startled to see her reply like that but he didn't do anything as he thought about what kind of training he should give to the three. After a long pause, he finally spoke. "How good is your stamina?"

The three didn't know what to answer so Ace decided to test them. He told them to start running laps along the edge of the clearing as long as they could. No breaks, no stops, nothing; just plain running until they collapsed. The three seemed uncertain but decided to follow his command and started.

An hour later, both Cole and Heidi had collapsed while Alicia was barely able to continue. It was a wonder that she even managed to last a whole hour, considering how long it had been since she last had done some kind of physical training. Ace was sitting on a tree, observing them and their auras while they ran. He jumped down from there only after Alicia collapsed.

"Alright," he said, getting the tired trainers' attention. "Meet me here again tomorrow; sharp at five in the morning."

He then teleported away, leaving the three panting in the gathering dusk. They couldn't even do anything else other than try to catch their breaths for the next fifteen minutes. It was only after that time passed that they were in a condition to talk.

Heidi, who had first caught her breath, broke the silence. "Do you think we'll be able to wake up early enough to be here by five?"

"I don't know," said Cole with a sigh. "But if this is the kind of training we are going to go through, then I don't look forward to it."

"It's necessary, isn't it?" asked Alicia, getting up. She was still panting since she was the last one to drop out of their little trial. "We need to be strong enough anyway."

"To find out more about dad, huh?" asked Heidi, glancing at the other two. "I kind of wish he had at least left a hint to tell us where he was going off to. It's been so much trouble trying to find even a little bit of information about him."

Cole sighed as he too got up. "There's not much that we can do about that now anyway. All we can do is try to find him. It's a good thing that we know he's still alive."

"Let's go now," said Alicia, stretching herself. "We will need to rest if we need to come here by five. From what Cass told us, it is obvious that Ace hates tardiness."

The other two followed her advice and left the clearing to ready themselves for the hard day ahead.

* * *

"Ash!"

The well-known trainer turned towards the source of the voice and saw Cass waving at him. He waved back and jogged towards her.

"Did you find anything?" asked Cass as he reached her.

Ash shook his head, much to her dismay. "I asked quite a lot of people but none of them know where either of them is. The only lead I got was from Officer Jenny and all she told was that Bonnie had left soon after seeing the file she had shown to her."

"What file?"

"Apparently, a photo of Giovanni," replied Ash with slight distaste. "He's dead – apparently murdered; I was quite shocked when I heard that. Good riddance though."

Cass didn't comment on that but she thought it was strange. Their enemy who had been after Ash for so long just suddenly dies? It just didn't seem plausible considering how the murder had happened during the tournament when everyone would be busy. Something didn't quite add up; she knew that but couldn't quite place a finger on what it was.

Nevertheless, she said, "Let's continue with the search as much as we can. If you can get your other friends to search as well, it'd be great."

Ash nodded and the two separated. Cass, who had a hunch where Bonnie could be, started for the centre of the city – the Prism Tower. She reached there, bypassed the security and with the elevator, reached the top. From there, she climbed all the way up to the tip of the Prism Tower.

The sun was just setting as she stood up on the tip, precariously. In the gathering dusk, she closed her eyes and focused her aura to maximize her sensing area. Her sensing area covered the whole city and even went a few miles further in all directions but she couldn't sense what she had been hoping for. Feeling discouraged, she jumped all the way from the top to bottom just as Bonnie appeared in front of the entrance to the Prism Tower.

Her sudden appearance took her aback as she turned to her and they exchanged glances. Bonnie simply waved her inside so she followed her to her room in the house. Once the door was closed behind them, Bonnie gave her a look that said she had a lot to tell. Cass consequently sat down on the sofa and waited for Bonnie to start with her story.

* * *

 _Bonnie had left the police station in deep thought. Her intuition told her that something wasn't right about Giovanni's death. She couldn't quite put her finger on it but she certainly had a really strong feeling that something wasn't right about it. As she walked across the street and towards her home, she heard herself being hailed. She turned to the source and saw Max waving at her. Waving back, she waited until he had caught up to her._

 _"What's up?" She asked. "Did you manage to convince Ace?"_

 _"Yeah," replied Max. "What about you? Did you find anything interesting from the police?"_

 _Bonnie slowly nodded as she went back to her pensive mood. Max waited until she was ready to tell him. She soon did, giving Max a shock. She also told him about the fact that she felt something wasn't right. He quietly listened to her and pondered about the situation._

 _"I think I will talk to Cole about what he found out about Team Rocket," said Max after a while. "What about you?"_

 _"I have something to do," said Bonnie hesitantly as she looked away from him briefly. Max picked up on her hesitance but didn't comment on it. He simply nodded and left her._

 _Bonnie watched him leave as the hair on the back of her neck stood up. She had had a feeling for quite some time that she was being followed but hadn't dared to use aura just in case her stalker was an aura user himself. She didn't intend to give away the fact that she knew she was being followed._

 _She decided to take care of her tail first as she started walking. When she reached near a rather secluded alley, she turned in there and continued walking. Once she was well away from the main street, she used her aura to sense who was behind her._

 _The aura signature matched with that of Giovanni. The revelation astounded her. She almost immediately turned back and saw a fleeting shadow running away from her towards the main street. She immediately followed but the person, who was following her, managed to blend in with the crowd on the main street before she could pursue him. Bonnie gave up then because it would have taken her quite a lot of time to scan everyone's aura signature to find Giovanni's._

 _But that didn't stop her from looking around for any suspicious activity or person. She glanced around but didn't see anything. She sighed and glanced at the clock – it was just past four. It wasn't like she had much to do then so she started searching for Giovanni's aura signature in the crowd. She figured she should follow the person as she scanned on one side of her._

 _She soon switched to the other side and was able to recognize his aura among the hundreds that were around. She at once started running after it. It seemed like he had picked up on her since she felt his aura running away from her. She soon followed him in the now-familiar area around Lumiose City._

 _They ran through the slums and into the forest. It soon got difficult to follow him because of the twisty path he took to wherever he was headed. But she still managed to keep track of him. She soon slowed down when she felt his aura not going away from her anymore. She then reduced her presence as she closed the remaining distance._

 _Soon enough, the trees parted to reveal a small open area in the forest. There were only three people there; Bonnie recognized them all. There was Pete, whom they had fought a few days ago; that intruder of her house – she could see him partly hidden on the opposite side in the bushes – and the last person was…_

 _"Jake?!" Bonnie almost shouted in shock, before biting her lip and reducing her voice to an inaudible whisper. Jake had been Sadie's partner when they were still a part of Team Rocket. Bonnie and Max had talked with Sadie just a few days ago but she hadn't let on about Jake at all. The fact that they – she and Max – had forgotten about him must have helped Sadie – if she knew about Jake, that is._

 _Looking at the three people standing and discussing about something, Bonnie had a feeling that Sadie and Jake had lost contact while they had been on the run and Sadie had decided to change for the better. As far as Jake was concerned, she didn't have any idea what could have happened but it seemed like Jake was still a part of Team Rocket._

 _She badly wanted to check the three's aura signatures, but she knew how Jake – if that was the guy she had been chasing – had quickly picked up on her and tried to evade her. The other two along with him were probably skilled aura users as well, so it would be basically suicide on her part if she so much as dared to use aura. Just in case they sensed her, she wouldn't have a chance to escape. It didn't matter how skilled she was; it was absolutely stupid to take a risk if the three decided to attack her at once. So she contented herself with simply observing what she could._

 _The three talked in hushed voices over something and then slowly walked to the center of the clearing. Bonnie watched as all three of them stood in a circle and extended their right hands with clenched fists forward as they closed their eyes. It was obvious they were focusing their auras since she could easily see their auras wildly flaring up around them._

 _Then, Pete and the tall guy – who was completely covered in black robes that only allowed his cold, dead eyes to be seen – opened their balled fists. As soon as they opened their fists, the aura that had been wildly flaring up around them started converging in the middle of the circle they formed._

 _The aura was a blue color at first, but then slowly turned a bluish-green before turning completely green. The power emanating from the green aura sphere sent chills down Bonnie's spine who was observing the event, hidden in the bushes. She knew that green color and the power; she knew exactly what it was._

 _It was the primal form of aura. The completely unadulterated, untamed ancient form of aura._

 _From what the legend said about aura and psychic powers, the original form of aura was really, really feral; so much so that the first people to control aura, when they found out about its destructive power, decided to keep it a secret. The secret was then passed down through generations to the most skilled person of that generation._

 _And if Bonnie wasn't wrong, Ace was that person of their generation. She had seen him demonstrate it to her, Cass and Max when they were travelling through Sinnoh. He hadn't mentioned anything about it other than the fact that it was so wild and powerful that unless a person's body had gone through severely torturous treatment, no one would be able to handle the intense pain that came with it. Bonnie still had no idea just how painful it was but it looked like she was going to witness it firsthand._

 _Obviously, she had no idea how differently primal aura worked from the tamed form that they used._

 _The green aura sphere kept on expanding until it almost filled up the circle that the three aura users had formed in the centre. When it seemed enough for the three, Pete and the tall guy closed their fists at the same time as Jake opened his. As soon as his palm fully faced the glowing green sphere, it started slowly accumulating towards it, and then continued spreading through his aura._

 _Bonnie watched as the blue aura that flared around Jake started calming down as its color slowly turned to bluish-green and later on, green. His aura first turned green at his right palm which was absorbing the green aura. As soon as the aura surrounding his hand turned green, black stripes started forming near the tip of his fingers. The stripes slowly started extending on his arms as the aura turned completely green there. The stripes continued wherever his aura turned green. As the power of the green aura started coursing through his body, the stripes started crisscrossing on his arms while they extended towards his body._

 _All this time, Jake had been quietly enduring all the pain that he felt, but as soon as the stripes went past his shoulders, he couldn't bear anymore. He suddenly started screaming in anguish as the stripes formation slowed down past his shoulders. At first, his hand hurt; then the pain slowly coursed through his forearm, upper arm and past his shoulders._

 _Every part of his body ached. His hands hurt; his knees throbbed with pain; his torso stung badly; his chest felt as if it was on fire. His head must have been crushed into pieces due to the pain – the pain was apparent to Bonnie from his expression. It was like he was being tortured in worst possible and painful way as his life was slowly eroded out of him._

 _And then, his body decided for him; it rejected the green aura that inflicted pain on it completely. The reaction was unexpectedly repulsive._

 _All the green aura that Jake had somehow managed to build up suddenly shot out of his body so quickly and roughly that the impact of that repulsion sent him flying into the forest; Bonnie heard a number of trees falling as Jake's body crashed into them._

 _In the meantime, the green aura sphere that had stayed somehow stabilized between the three people got subverted and started going berserk as Pete and the tall guy tried to handle it unsuccessfully. Bonnie knew at once she was in the danger zone and readied herself to teleport. She was late though; the aura sphere exploded like an atom bomb and completely destroyed the surrounding area including the two people trying to stabilize it and Bonnie._

 _The impact Bonnie felt was nothing short of a plane hitting her – at least that was what she thought. The force sent her flying into the forest for what seemed like miles as she hit tree after tree, crashing right through them. By the time she slowed down and was stopped by another tree, her spine was already in pieces; many of her ribs were broken; and only her right leg was functional; her other limbs were broken. She even had a fracture on her skull and she was bleeding profusely from the innumerable wounds that had been inflicted on her due to the explosion. She had been already unconscious from the time when the shockwave from the explosion had hit her._

 _Fortunately for her, Ace, who had been around when the explosion had occurred, came across her unconscious form and healed her quickly. He waited there until she woke up; she woke up only when it was past six – after the time for Cass's battle. She noticed Ace immediately and saw that he had healed her._

 _Ace raised an eyebrow at her as soon as she looked at him. "Explain that."_

 _Bonnie sat cross-legged and took some time to recall what had happened as Ace waited impatiently for her to speak. She soon remembered what had happened right before the explosion and told him everything. Ace had a skeptical look on his face when she finished._

 _"If I literally take what you said, then you must have been thrown more than a couple of miles away," said Ace as he got up. He flew up away from the forest into the sky and used his psychic power to get Bonnie up to his level. From there, they could see miles around, and Bonnie almost immediately noticed the scorched area to their left quite far away._

 _Bonnie judged the distance to be around three miles or less. That was quite a lot. She turned towards Ace. "Now you know why I was unconscious."_

 _"Unconscious?" said Ace with an amused laugh. "You were almost dead. I found you at the right time; you should be glad about that. A couple of minutes late and you would have been history."_

 _Bonnie shrugged her shoulders carelessly, as if that didn't matter. Ace noticed her offhand manner and gave her a cold glare. "I don't really care if you die but at least think about Max for fuck's sake. That guy sure as hell loves you too much to let you die as stupidly as that."_

 _"What the hell are you talking about?" yelled Bonnie in shock and embarrassment. "Max isn't my boyfriend!"_

 _"Not yet anyway," said Ace, grumbling as he landed back on the ground with her. "Do you think he will be able to handle your death – even if he can handle others'?"_

 _Bonnie didn't have an answer as she looked away from him with a preoccupied expression on her face. "Okay, I will take care of myself more," she said in a small voice eventually._

 _"It'd be better if Max doesn't hear about how you almost died," said Ace as he walked away from her. "You better get going now. I am going to see how they found out about the primal aura. You three are the only people who know about this other than me so I am pretty curious about how they managed to even find a clue."_

 _"Do tell us when you find out about it," called Bonnie after him as he disappeared in a flash of light._

 _Bonnie stayed there with a pensive look on her face as she thought about the whole incident so far. The only thing that didn't make sense in the recent episode was Jake. It seemed like she had been chasing him but the aura signature that she had followed matched that of Giovanni. Something didn't make sense but she couldn't quite figure it out. She gave up temporarily and decided to think about it later as she teleported away from the place._

* * *

Cass whistled in surprise. "I didn't know so many things happened during those two or so hours."

"Yeah, but now we know that our enemy does know how to activate primal form of aura," said Bonnie with a grim tone. "If they learn to control it, we won't be able to fight them – unless Ace decides to help us, which I kind of doubt."

" _That's_ true," said Cass slowly as she processed everything she had heard. She then turned to look back at her. "What about Max? He hasn't contacted us yet. Where do you think he could be?"

"Well, he did say he was going to talk to Cole so I don't know," replied Bonnie thoughtfully. "He should have contacted us by now though."

Just as she said that, the doorbell rang. Bonnie went and opened the door to reveal Max. He walked in without waiting to be invited and seated himself on the sofa beside Cass, lost in his own world. Bonnie and Cass exchanged glances before Cass poked him and snapped him out of his trance.

Max blinked and glanced at the two before leaning back and saying, "You won't believe what I found with Cole's help."

"Well then, how about you tell us?" said Cass, looking first at Bonnie and then at him as Bonnie seated herself opposite to them.

* * *

 _Max glanced back as he left Bonnie and saw her walking a bit tensely. He didn't know why, but he reckoned she would be able to take care of whatever it was that was making her tense so he decided to focus on the task he was going to do. He walked to the Pokémon Centre and got Cole's room number from the reception desk where Nurse Joy was. Then, he went to his room and knocked on the door._

 _Cole opened the door and was surprised to see him standing there. He must have thought it must be serious as he quickly let him in and sat opposite to him on the bed while Max sat on a chair._

 _"Cole, I want your help," said Max, getting straight to the point._

 _"Whoa, what is it that you need my help for?" asked Cole, taken by surprise. "It would be better if you give me a gist of what is happening."_

 _Max paused for a while as he turned over an idea in his head. He then turned to Cole. "Are Alicia and Heidi here? I might need their help as well."_

 _Cole gave him a long glance as he replied with a nod of his head. He called them with his Holo Caster and soon, the two girls stood in the room along with the two guys, waiting for Max to speak._

 _"So what is it?" asked Heidi, glancing at Max briefly before turning towards Cole._

 _"Where did you find out about Team Rocket?" asked Max, glancing at Cole. "Cass told me what you had done."_

 _"Well, I hacked into the records police keeps on one of their servers," replied Cole slowly as he looked at Max in the eye. "Apparently, there was an old case when Giovanni was caught; I think it was when Team Rocket's first boss had just died and Giovanni was the new head. They had been charged of pokémon trafficking and suspected murder. Evidence had been found later that the first boss had actually been murdered by one of the team themselves. So, they had captured Giovanni."_

 _He paused while Max listened carefully turning over the information in his mind. After a moment, he resumed. "He was sentenced to death by hanging but he managed to escape. The circumstances are not known; no one knows if he had inside help or outside help. He was caught about a decade later three years ago, when Ash and you guys got involved. But again, he escaped, and he has been on the run since about the last two and a half years."_

 _"There's no way he could be on the run for that long," pointed out Max. "The police aren't that inefficient."_

 _"Yeah, that's the problem," said Cole. "I had had the same thought at first. After I mulled over it a bit, I realized there were only a few possibilities: either he was a pro when it came to escaping, or he had someone to help cover his tracks, or he did that himself. I am inclined to believe it was one of the latter two reasons."_

 _Max thought about his reasoning for a moment. Then, he turned towards Alicia. "Alicia, do you still have that paper with Team Rocket's symbol on it?"_

 _Alicia nodded and handed it over to him. He observed it for a while. Eventually, he spoke. "Do you mind if I borrow this for a while?"_

 _"Not at all," said Alicia with a shrug of her shoulders. "It would be better if you keep with it you. You might need it again sometime."_

 _Max nodded and pocketed the square piece of paper. He then got up and gestured Cole to follow him. Leaving the girls in the Centre, the two boys started walking to the Prism Tower as Max placed a call._

 _Clemont picked it up. He looked really tired. His hair was messy and it seemed like he was quite busy since the two could see people moving about behind him in workers' clothes with tools and toolboxes in their hands._

 _"What's up, Max?" The blonde inventor asked. "I have been quite busy. Ash told me what you were up to."_

 _Max gave a nod. "Sorry to disturb you. I only called to ask if you minded if we used your computer. It is connected to the internet, isn't it?"_

 _Clemont nodded. "You are free to do so. I programmed Clembot earlier to let any of us in there. He should be able to help you."_

 _Max nodded and thanked him. The call was disconnected as Cole sent Max an inquisitive glance. Max said, "We are going to hack into the database again; two databases, in fact: Team Rocket's old database and the police database. Can I count on you for that?"_

 _"Sure," said Cole, quite surprised to see Max so serious. He didn't comment though._

 _The two soon reached the Lumiose Gym and were admitted into Clemont's workshop by Clembot. Cole seemed fascinated to see everything around him while Max went straight to the computer terminal and powered it on. As soon as it turned on, he called Cole and the two set to work._

 _Max knew that Clemont had kept a copy of Team Rocket's old database on his server and asked Cole to find it. In the meantime, Cole, who had already hacked once into the police database, inserted his flash drive into the computer and opened a file; apparently, he had kept a copy of passwords that he had needed to crack into the database. In just a few minutes, the two had all the information spread out on the computer screen in front of them._

 _On Max's instruction, Cole started opening files that seemed suspicious. Most of the times, whatever they found wasn't interesting at all. It wasn't until they saw a folder called 'PSPs' that they actually found something. It was almost six when they found the folder and the two had started to think that they were on a wild goose chase._

 _As soon as they opened it, they were greeted with many files each of which contained pictures of all the members of the Team Rocket arranged chronologically. They had already seen another folder with 'Profiles' as its name so it was strange that they had found another folder that contained profiles._

 _Cole opened one of them and saw that the files contained a close up photo of every member's face and under the photos, some dimensions were written. Max thought they seemed suspicious; he asked Cole to search for a 'Sadie' and a 'Jake' in the folder. Cole did and they came up with only one profile of each – Max recognized them instantly. He decided to note down whatever dimensions were written under their photos and once he was done, told Cole to close everything and turn off the computer. While Cole got to work, Max pondered about the dimensions under each photo._

 _Cole was done soon so the two left the Prism Tower. Cole went to the Pokémon Centre while Max slowly walked away from the Prism Tower, deep in thought. He didn't know how much time had passed until he vacantly glanced at the time. Seeing that it was almost seven in the evening, he turned back and started walking towards Bonnie's house, hoping that he would meet up with either her or Cass._

* * *

Max leaned back and sighed. "I still haven't been able to figure out why those proportions were written under everyone's faces. Anyway, what did you find, Bonnie?"

Bonnie repeated her side of things again to Max rather quickly; she omitted the unnecessary parts as she recounted everything. It seemed like she and Cass had made the connection of Max's side of things with theirs. Cass spoke as soon as Bonnie finished.

"I think I know what those proportions are," she said, glancing briefly at Bonnie who gave a small nod. "I think both of us know what is going on."

Max, who had been thinking about Bonnie's side of things, understood as well. He gave a slightly shocked glance to the two. "I think I finally understand why there were two profile folders. And if what we think is true, Giovanni isn't dead yet."

The three jumped to their feet at once.

"I will go tell all the development to Ash!" yelled Cass as she opened the door with a bang.

"And we are heading off to the police station!" called Bonnie as she and Max left the house and locked the door. "Let's meet up at the Pokémon Centre!"

They saw Cass nod as she disappeared around the corner. The two then left for the police station. They ran, hoping that they would find Officer Jenny there.

Fortunately for them, Officer Jenny was still on duty. It seemed like she had just been leaving for the night when they arrived. She looked up at them surprised when they walked in her office, quite sweaty.

"Do you have some time, Officer Jenny?" asked Max quickly.

"We need some help," added Bonnie.

"Sure," said Officer Jenny with a nod as she gestured towards the chairs in front of her desk. "But first, why don't you take a seat here?"

The two nodded and sat down in front of her. The officer waited for them to speak.

"If you don't mind, can you tell us where you found Giovanni's body and where it is right now?" asked Bonnie as soon as she sat down.

Officer Jenny gave them a long glance as she processed her words. At length, she nodded. "Alright, but you better tell me what you are up to."

Bonnie recounted for the third time in that evening what she had found as Officer Jenny opened one of the files kept on her desk and started leafing through the pages. After Bonnie was finished, Max narrated what had happened with him; later, they told her their suspicions as she listened to their outings with a mixture of amazement, shock and surprise.

She shook her head in disbelief when they were finished. "I can't believe what you guys do." Then she narrowed her eyes. "If what you say is true, we will need to send the body for DNA testing. If your suspicions turn out to be true, we can't close this case yet."

The two got up and nodded at her. "Thanks for spending some time listening to us. It would be great if you let us know later what you find."

"Sure," said the officer with a nod. She then turned towards Bonnie. "If you don't mind, Bonnie, can you ask your brother if he is done yet with the installation of security cameras? Crimes have drastically increased so we need to finish this up quickly."

 _That explains why he seemed tired,_ thought Max as he watched Bonnie nod at the officer. _He must have been working day and night to connect all those cameras with the police station and making sure they worked perfectly fine._

"Let's go, Max," said Bonnie as she started for the door. "We still need to meet up with Cass."

Max nodded and wordlessly followed her. The two left the police station and headed for the Pokémon Centre. They soon reached there in time to see Cass pacing up and down in the lounge area like a caged pokémon. She looked up as soon as they entered and without a second's delay pulled them into Cole's room; Cole, Alicia and Heidi were already there.

"What happened?" asked Bonnie, noticing their restlessness.

"I went to talk to Ash but apparently, something's happened to Serena," reported Cass curtly. "I have been trying to find a way to talk to Ash but he doesn't seem in the mood right now. Whatever has happened must be serious; he hasn't left the room since about three hours now."

Max glanced at the clock in the room; it was past nine-thirty. It must have taken them a lot of time to tell Officer Jenny everything necessary, he figured. He turned back to Cass. "Didn't you sense anything different?"

"I tried to, but Ash's aura was getting wilder by the second," replied Cass, frustration evident in her voice. "His aura is overflowing the room; I can't sense anything else inside. You can still sense his aura from right here."

Cass was right; both Max and Bonnie could sense Ash's aura coming from the direction of the hospital. They even felt the anger in the aura and reckoned that his aura must have turned red. They exchanged glances with the others in the room and then gave a nod.

"We are leaving," said Bonnie as she pulled Cass along with her. Max was already outside the room. "You three should rest if you want to wake up early tomorrow."

With that, the three left the Pokémon Centre and ran towards the hospital. There was a huge crowd at the entrance with the front of the crowd filled with media and reporters. Without delay, the three ran to the back of the hospital and gained entrance through there. The first person they saw as soon as they entered was a wide-eyed Misty.

"What happened?" demanded Max swiftly.

"Serena is gone!" The water-type gym leader screamed at them as she suddenly lost the little composure she had and started crying inconsolably.

The words struck like thunder and the three listeners were silenced into shock. It was unbelievable.

"What the fuck do you mean?" snapped Bonnie disbelievingly. "Is that true?"

Seeing that Misty hadn't stopped crying, the three got their answer. They quickly followed Ash's aura and ran to the one of the rooms on the top floor of the hospital. There they saw Ash sitting motionlessly with someone lying in front of him; they were facing away from the door.

The three tiptoed quietly forward and were stunned at the sight they saw.

The person lying in front of Ash was none other than Serena – _with a huge hole in her chest._ Her heart was still beating slowly as it lay a few feet away from her body near the window. Her blood had completely soaked the carpet of the room. Her eyes had been closed – apparently by Ash who still had one of his hands on her cheek while his other hand held hers. He was staring at her motionlessly; his eyes were completely devoid of any emotion but his aura was still flooding the room.

"Ash…?" said Max tentatively as he briefly glanced at Bonnie who looked thunderstruck.

"What did she do wrong?" asked Ash lifelessly as a stray tear made its way down his face. Another soon appeared and before long, Ash was bawling his eyes out. He couldn't speak; he couldn't think clearly.

Max heard another sob beside him and saw Bonnie biting her lip hard to keep herself from crying. He – or Cass for that matter – wasn't as close to Serena as the other two were so he didn't know how to console either. Instead, he decided to let them cry the sadness out of their system as he went to Ash and started patting on his back lightly as if letting him know that he was there. Cass did the same to Bonnie.

Their actions had the desired effects as the two cried at the loss of their friend. They cried for what seemed like hours until they finally calmed down. Meanwhile, Max and Cass simply let them cry and lent their shoulders for them to cry on.

It was past eleven in the night when they finally stopped and calmed down. Neither of the other two spoke lest they angered or saddened them further. Bonnie gained her composure slowly.

"We are going to finish up this case," she said, sniffling a bit as her eyes showed determination. "This is getting too out of hand."

Ash didn't look their way but he nodded visibly. His aura was calm now but it had a certain amount of fury attached to it which could be easily felt if anyone sensed his aura. He got up and without looking their way, left the room.

"Bonnie, are you okay?" asked Cass concernedly.

"I will be fine," said Bonnie calmly as she got up.

Max stared at her for a moment. "You better know we are here for you – both of us."

Bonnie glanced briefly at the two and gave a small smile even though she was distressed. Then she glanced back at Serena's dead body and felt nauseated. "Let's get Officer Jenny here," she said, looking away.

Max and Cass exchanged glances and then, looked back at Bonnie who still looked shaken at her close friend's death. Max nodded at Cass, who nodded back and left the room. As soon as she left the room, Max went up to Bonnie and put a hand over her shoulders. He gently guided her away from the room; Bonnie let him do so. She still wasn't in the right state of mind to think about anything else.

It had never occurred to her that she would see a day when one of her close friends would die – that too, such a horrible death. The reality still didn't seem to have struck her completely as Max led her to one of the empty rooms in the hospital. It was only after Max sat her down that she made a conscious move.

She suddenly took hold of Max's shirt and buried her face into his chest as a muffled sob made its way out of her. Max softly patted her on the back as she tightened her hold on him. She stayed like that for quite some time.

"Thanks a lot, Max," she said eventually, letting go of him.

Max simply smiled but didn't say anything. It did sadden him that one of his friends died but there wasn't anything they could do now other than finding the criminal responsible – and he was pretty sure that it was Team Rocket. All they needed was evidence.

"Let's go, Max," said Bonnie, breaking into his thoughts. Her face showed her determination. "We need to find those criminals." She narrowed her eyes. "We need to make sure they won't ever think of messing with us."

Max felt a chill go down his spine as he looked at her determined expression. He had no doubt that she would make sure that would happen.

Just then, they suddenly felt a spike in an unknown aura at the bottom floor of the hospital. Almost immediately, there was a huge explosion in front of the hospital and then, the building gave a sudden lurch as it started leaning.

Bonnie and Max exchanged horrified glances as they lost their balance and crashed into the wall hard. The building kept on leaning more and more as the two tried to keep steady. When it felt plainly obvious that the building would fall, it suddenly stopped – just like that. The two exchanged glances and then ran towards the front of the corridor the room was in and gazed down towards the ground.

Far down on the street, half the crowd that had been there earlier had disappeared while the other half was being forced out by the police. Many people looked injured; some seemed on the verge of death. Strangely, there didn't seem any dead bodies around even though the explosion was large enough to actually topple the whole building forward. That was when the two sensed the aura – mixed with some psychic powers – holding the building up.

There was no doubt about it – it was Ash's aura.

When he got so strong – the two had no idea but now that they saw carefully, they could see Ash standing right under the building. They couldn't see his face from where they were but it was obvious to them he must be angry; they could easily feel the rage in his aura. They were just about to call him when they saw someone walking towards him that froze them in their place.

It was Ace. The real one.

There was no doubt about it. The aura matched with that of Ace as did the aura signature. The two exchanged horrified glances and then turned back down to see what was happening. They felt it was too risky to let this continue so they broke the glass of the window and readied themselves to jump down and interrupt.

Just as they were about to jump, they heard a clear voice in their heads.

 **"Don't you dare fucking interrupt or the moment your feet leave the windowsill will be your last one."**

It was Ace's voice – and it had a clear, authoritative tone to it. It was painfully obvious that Ace wasn't going to let anyone interrupt them. They, for once, wanted to interrupt him but his voice had been so commanding that they didn't dare disobey. All they could do was listen to the ensuing conversation below.

Ace kept on walking until he was within hearing range of Ash. Then he stopped. Ash stared at him constantly without showing an ounce of expression on his face. After a few tense moments, he broke the silence.

"Tell me what you know about Team Rocket," he said calmly even as his aura flared up around him.

Ace noticed it and kept quiet for some time. Eventually, he spoke. "Not until you calm down and get over Serena's death. I don't know much about her but I am pretty sure I have a good idea of what went down here. And I am not going to open my mouth until I know you are in the state of mind to listen to what I have to say."

"Tell me." Ash didn't say anything as he looked Ace in the eye without flinching even a bit.

Ace looked back. "No." That's all he said.

"Ace!" shouted Bonnie from beside Max. "Don't be so damn stubborn! We want to wrap this up quickly."

Ace's hand suddenly shot out and an aura disc shot out towards her. Bonnie jumped back just as the aura disc cut right through the upheld building. Something stung in her chest and she looked down to see a clean cut through her top with her blood staining it.

"I told you not to interfere," came Ace's voice through the window. Max gritted his teeth as he stared down at the two while Bonnie stayed a bit away from the window but in a way that she could see what was going on below.

"I will give you a last chance; tell me," said Ash emotionlessly as he stepped towards Ace.

Ace shrugged his shoulders and turned around. "If you can, make me open my mouth."

"Ace!"

Max jumped down from the window at once, much to Bonnie's shock. As soon as he did, Ace fired another aura disc that went towards Max faster than the earlier one. Max was ready, however, as he moved in such a way that the aura disc aimed to his left hand. As soon as the aura disc made its way to him, Max caught it, spun in the air and threw it back to where it came from. Ace didn't bat an eye as the aura disc turned around like a boomerang and again aimed towards Max, who already having figured that out, was ready.

He opened his palm and formed his own aura disc, and then fired it towards the approaching one. His aura disc sliced Ace's in half, making it explode. The explosion destabilized his aura disc and ended up setting it off as well. All of this happened while Max was airborne. He landed on the ground and got into fighting stance as Ace stared at him.

"This is getting out of hand, Ace," said Max, glancing at Ash who had stopped to look at him. "Either you open your mouth or we fight."

"Max!" shouted Bonnie from the top as she too jumped and landed beside him.

Ace scowled and jerked his head towards Ash. "Do you think he will be able to handle what I have to say in his mental state right now?"

"We won't know until you speak," said Max tentatively as he glanced at Ash and then back at Ace.

"I refuse to," said Ace, turning back and walking. "I know for sure that he isn't in the right mental state to listen even if you don't."

"You fucking will," said Ash as his aura suddenly spiked. "You will talk; I will make sure of it."


	14. The Primal Aura And Its Origin

Chapter 14: The Primal Aura And Its Origin

"Oh really?" asked Ace, raising an eyebrow at the angered Ash as the sparse crowd that was still around looked on a bit fearfully. "And how do you expect to do that?"

Ash cracked his knuckles as he started walking towards Ace, indirectly answering his question. Ace sighed as he turned back to face him. "Beating it out of me is not going to help. Isn't that right, Bonnie, Max?"

Ash stopped and looked back to see the two's stoic faces as they looked at them. He then turned back to glance at Ace who had already turned around and started walking away.

"If you want an answer that badly, beat me in the tournament," said Ace as he waved his hand at them. "I _might_ concede."

With that, he teleported away in a flash of light as Ash stood straight and stared at the place where he had been moments ago. The hospital building still floated midair as he turned back. "You got it, Ace," he muttered, eerily calm.

And then, he suddenly collapsed.

As soon as he started falling, his aura that had been holding up the building until now disappeared. There was nothing there anymore to stop the building from falling as Max and Bonnie ran towards Ash and picked him up. They barely missed the plunging building which fell right in front of them and created a cloud of dust in the whole area. The dust went into their eyes and noses and made them sneeze uncontrollably as their eyes watered due to the burning sensation.

The dust settled down soon enough. By the time it did, the police had already surrounded the area and were helping the emergency services find people under the rubble. It was obvious from all the debris that Serena's body must have been badly damaged; chances were it might not even be in the condition for Ash to see – he might lose his sanity, the two thought.

They sought Officer Jenny out and handed Ash over to her as Cass walked up to them, slightly injured but otherwise unharmed.

"Where were you all this time?" asked Max, suddenly occurring that Cass hadn't been around when they were busy dealing with Ace and Ash.

"I was after the aura signature that caused the explosion," said Cass, getting their attention.

"So it really was because of aura," said Max to no one in particular as he nodded.

"Are you okay?" asked Cass, directing her question at Bonnie who, she knew, was close to Serena.

Bonnie gave a hesitant nod. "I will be fine."

"Now then," said Cass, glancing back at Max, "Do you want to know what I found right now? Or…"

"Right now," said Max firmly. "It's better to tell us everything when it is still fresh in your mind. You might forget some things if we wait until tomorrow."

"Alright, I will tell you everything as we walk to the Pokémon Centre," said Cass. She, then, gestured towards the wreckage of the hospital. "I don't sense anyone's aura so I doubt anyone who's under there is alive."

"I don't either," said Max as he too checked with aura. Bonnie agreed as well.

The three started walking as Cass started.

* * *

 _Cass watched as Max led Bonnie away. She glanced briefly at Ash and then left the room, deciding it was better to leave them all alone. She chose to go to the police station to see if Officer Jenny had found out about what Max and Bonnie had told her. As she reached the second floor, she suddenly felt an unknown aura spike at the bottom floor. The next moment, she felt a shockwave that sent her flying to the end of the corridor – which had opened up. The force with which she was thrown due to the shockwave sent her right through the wall at the end and into the nearby building. It was a good thing for her that she had made a split-second decision and covered herself with aura to prevent any unnecessary damage._

 _As soon as she stopped in the adjacent building, she jumped to her feet and ran towards the hole that she had ended up creating only to be a horrified spectator and see the hospital building slowly leaning and falling. She had no idea what to do at that moment but she suddenly felt a familiar aura spike and the plummeting building stopped midair. The aura was Ash's – she figured that out instantly._

 _She also realized that Max and Bonnie, who were still in the building, would easily manage to handle anything that might be going down there so she decided to focus on what had created this problem in the first place. She quickly focused her aura where the explosion had occurred and felt a slight presence of some unknown aura. She could sense it going away from the hospital and soon pinpointed its location._

 _Using her psychic power, she levitated and then started tracking down the aura. She soon managed to find out its aura signature as she neared the location from where the aura felt was coming. The aura signature stunned her when she realized that it matched with Giovanni. And what was more that the aura she could see wasn't blue or red – which was the color for anger in general –, or even black – which was the general color for completely evil aura. It was green – and Cass was aware of its distinctiveness._

 _The first thought that came to her mind was how in the world had someone else other than Ace found out about the primal form of aura. It was a very, very dangerous piece of information that if leaked, could wreak havoc in the world. Ace had mentioned in a smaller amount of words what could happen if the information leaked and had made them swear by themselves to keep their mouth shut._

 _And now, here was someone who could potentially throw the world into chaos by just displaying the primal form. The problem was that the primal aura couldn't be hidden as easily as normal aura could be. Even those who couldn't use aura would be able to sense the ferocity of the primal form. And for them, it was nothing short of imminent death especially if the user wasn't skilled enough to keep it under control._

 _She remembered how fearful she had been when Ace had shown them the primal form and its wildness. It was like she was staring death in the face when she looked at it and yet, she couldn't look away. She still couldn't exactly describe the feeling verbally even after getting used to it a bit after Ace made them fight him in his primal form. But it was nothing short of amazing yet dangerous._

 _She soon closed the distance enough to actually see the person who had achieved the primal form. She saw the green hair and green eyes of the man she was following and saw that his aura signature matched with that of Giovanni. But he wasn't Giovanni – at least, he had a different face. That seemed to clinch it for her – Giovanni must have either had plastic surgery to alter himself or he had his hands on some technology that could change bodies of two people. She was inclined to believe it was the latter; she didn't feel it was possible to alter someone's appearance so much just by plastic surgery – she was pretty sure of it even if she didn't know what exactly happened during plastic surgery._

 _She wanted to follow him further but the fact that he had black stripes crisscrossing all over his arms and legs and that they were glowing green made her stop. It would be too risky to follow him; her intuition told her that he still hadn't full control of the primal form so if he decided to fight, chances were he won't hold back – or more precisely, he won't be able to hold back._

 _As much as she hated it, she stopped tailing him and turned around towards the still floating hospital building. Not more than a few seconds must have passed when the building suddenly started plummeting downwards, much to Cass's shock. She decided that it was futile to even think of following Giovanni as she quickly landed on one of the rooftops that she could see and teleported._

 _As soon as she appeared, a huge part of the concrete building landed on her; she didn't have enough time to react and ended up having her right arm crushed under it. She shot an aura sphere as the concrete block toppled towards her and smashed into pieces. Then she started healing herself as she walked towards where she felt Max and Bonnie's auras._

* * *

The three had reached the Pokémon Centre by the time Cass finished what she had seen.

"So you see," she said as she stopped and turned to face the two, "I think our suspicions are on point – at least, that's what I believe. And the dead body must have been that of Jake – that is his name, right?"

Bonnie nodded with a pensive expression on her face. "I think we will need to find out more about that dead body."

"That reminds me," said Cass, getting their attention. "I never really got to ask Officer Jenny what she had found. We should ask her first thing in the morning tomorrow."

The two nodded. "Let's meet up here tomorrow, say, around seven. Officer Jenny should be on duty then."

With that, Cass waved goodbye to them as she went back into the Centre; the two guessed she would tell the other three everything as they started walking away.

"Hey Bonnie."

"Hm?"

"If you don't mind, I would like to stay at your place for the night. I also need to call mom and dad to see if they are okay."

"I don't mind. But you will have to make do with either the living room or my bedroom; the guest room is completely filled with Clemont's stuff and his bedroom is his workshop at the gym."

Max shrugged at her. "I don't really care as long as I get to sleep somewhere. I just want to call my parents as soon as I get home."

"Why not now? What about your Holo Caster?"

Max gave a sheepish look and pulled out a broken Holo Caster from his pocket. "I think they broke it when they had caught me. I just noticed it when we crashed into the hospital wall earlier and felt it poking me."

"How do you know it broke earlier and not _when_ you crashed into the wall?"

"Do you really think it wasn't that sturdy?"

"Well, it's something Clemont made so…"

"Why don't you see what happened to yours?"

Bonnie put her hand into her pockets but came out empty. She glanced at Max. "Maybe you are right after all."

"I hope there was a password on it."

"There is. You really think I am stupid enough to not do that?"

"Not really. There might be something useful for them in there."

"There's nothing except my contacts and maybe some old messages."

"Well then, I hope they break it like mine if nothing else."

"I hope so too."

There was silence for some time as they walked slowly, seeing the late night sights of the city. Max broke it.

"We should tell Clemont to make new ones that are just as good as the old ones."

"Not until we sort out at least _this_ stuff."

"Yeah, I understand that. But we might need it."

"We won't."

"You can't say that for sure."

"Let's just say I have a feeling we won't need it."

"I have a feeling we will need it."

"Let's see what happens."

"Okay then."

They soon reached their destination and quickly ate whatever was left in the kitchen so they wouldn't feel too hungry; both of them were too tired to make dinner so they made do with just that. Afterwards, they went to Bonnie's bedroom. Bonnie simply fell into her bed while Max made a makeshift bed of blankets and a pillow, and crashed for the night.

* * *

Max woke up to Bonnie pacing up and down in the room restlessly. He sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he glanced at the clock – four thirty two a.m.

"What's up, Bonnie?" he asked sleepily staring at her dark figure.

"I can't sleep," she replied as she stopped and looked down at him. "That sight of Serena lying in a pool of blood is giving me nightmares."

Max didn't feel surprised. It would have been more surprising for him if she hadn't given any reaction. He didn't know what to say though; in fact, there wasn't anything he could have said that might have calmed her down in any way. Instead, he chose to wait for some time before doing anything. If he knew her well, she would soon stop and talk to him.

And she did.

It took another few minutes before Bonnie stopped and sat in front of him on his makeshift bed; he couldn't see her expression due to the dark but it was obvious to him that Bonnie was finally letting out the emotions she had been hiding all day long.

He heard some muffled sobs as Bonnie tried vainly to keep herself from crying. He crawled a bit ahead and pulled her into a hug. That seemed to have the desired effect as he felt his shoulders getting wet along with Bonnie's muffled crying.

"Serena didn't deserve that," she said through her sobs while Max simply let her speak her heart out. "She never did anyone wrong. Why did she have to go through all of that shit? Why did she have to die?"

Max kept on softly patting her as she hugged him tightly and cried in his arms about the injustice of the situation. He didn't speak a word and let her cry on him silently. It wasn't until he suddenly felt her weight increase on him that he realized she was asleep. He picked her up and placed her on her bed and then went back to his bed to sleep. It was quarter past five by then.

Even though he tried to, he couldn't sleep any more. It _had been_ disturbing to see a dead body that way they had seen; the fact that it was one of their friends made it harder for them. While Max hadn't been particularly close to Serena, Bonnie was, so it affected her on an emotional level. He could fathom how she felt though, considering that he too had come close to losing his sister.

He finally got up unable to let his brain rest and after glancing at Bonnie briefly, left the room. The first thing he saw in the living room was Cass's sleeping figure on the couch. It was quite a surprise to him that she managed to slip in to the house without either of them knowing but he couldn't care less. He went ahead and poked her awake.

Cass quickly sat up and yawned as she glanced at the person who had woken her up. "Is she okay?" She asked, referring to Bonnie as she slid aside to let Max sit with her.

"She cried herself to sleep," replied Max with a sigh as he sat down on the sofa and leaned back. "She must have been pretty close to Serena for that to happen."

"Yeah," said Cass as she glanced at him and then turned back to stare ahead with a thoughtful expression on her face.

"What's up with you?" asked Max, breaking into her silent thoughts. "It's surprising to see you here since you just slept a few hours ago."

"Something has been bothering me," confessed Cass after a moment of silence. "I felt like I wanted to talk to you two first."

"And what is it about?" asked Max, raising an eyebrow as he glanced at her with a curious expression on his face.

There was a pause as Cass chose her words carefully. She spoke at length. "I have a feeling things are not going to be good any more – at least for you."

"That's rather broad way of telling us," said Max as he looked away from her at the wall. "It's not like we can figure out what you mean by that."

"I mean what I say," said Cass a bit forcefully. "Things are not going to be good _anymore_."

For a moment, Max stared at her vacantly. Then it clicked. His face showed slight shock as he asked, "You mean that things won't be the same any more for any of us?"

Cass nodded slowly. "I just couldn't sleep so I went back to the debris of the hospital and checked Serena's body after it was pulled out of that rubble. Apparently, her heart had simply been punched out of her body – no cuts at all."

"What do you mean to say?" asked Max, unable to comprehend how that mattered.

"Don't you see?" asked Cass impatiently. "If the criminal didn't want to make any fuss and execute his mission quietly, chances were he would have first knocked Serena and then quickly cut off the main artery that passes through her heart. That would have been a quick way. I have a feeling that this murder was a diversion; they intended to have it discovered quickly. I think they – Team Rocket, that is – are going to go on a murder spree to hide their real intentions."

Max looked at her, visibly shocked. "But what if you are wrong?"

"I did consider that," said Cass after a slight pause. "But in all seriousness, I really doubt that anyone would be murdered so flashily."

"You _have_ got a point there," said Max, mulling over her words. He then turned to glance at her. "What do you think we should do? There's no way we can find a clue _now_. Whatever clue that might have been there must have been destroyed in the rubble by now."

"Well, I did find a clue – I did sense an unknown aura near the hole in her chest," said Cass slowly. "The only problem was that the aura was really small in quantity for me to check its aura signature. It was as if the user used aura that was just enough to punch her heart out of her body."

"That complicates things," said Max after pondering about that for a while. He then leaned back. "We should start with this mess as soon as Bonnie feels okay. I hope she feels better quickly. As much as I hate to say it, we are really short of time right now. If what you said is right, we need to quickly find out their next target."

Cass yawned suddenly. Seeing her, Max yawned as well. The two looked at each other and exchanged small smiles.

"Looks like neither of us was able to sleep tonight," said Cass, rubbing her eyes.

"I did sleep actually," said Max. "But Bonnie's pacing up and down the room woke me up. I haven't been able to sleep since."

"What about her?"

"Didn't I tell you she cried herself to sleep?"

"Oh, I meant to ask when she went to sleep."

Max glanced at the clock – quarter to six. "About half an hour ago, I'd guess."

"Then, we are not going to be able to make a move until we find out about our matches today."

"You're right about that," said Max with a small chuckle. He got up and stretched himself. "I really want to sleep but my body won't let me. It's a pity my biological clock is configured so well. I envy the people who can sleep anywhere."

Cass chuckled at him lightly as she stretched herself on the couch and rested her head on one end. "I think we should just set an alarm for nine and go to sleep – if possible."

Max nodded and went back inside. The house quietened down as the first rays of sun showed up at the horizon.

* * *

Cass woke up to someone poking her foot. She was a bit ticklish there so the feeling woke her up instantly. She looked at the end of the couch to see a quite well-rested Bonnie and a slightly tired Max looking at her. Max had a tray in his hand that he placed at the table in front of her as she sat up.

Cass gave a yawn and went to the bathroom to freshen up. She returned quickly and hungrily wolfed down her breakfast as Max sat down tiredly in front of her while Bonnie went back inside the kitchen – to wash Max's and her plates, Cass presumed.

Once she was finished, she quickly washed her plates and then sat on the sofa, curiously looking at the other two who had been quiet all that time. She broke the silence after waiting for a while.

"Guys…?"

She felt a bit awkward while breaking the quiet as she glanced at the two in front of her; her words seemed to have broken into their thoughts as they looked back at her. Max gave another yawn as he leaned back while Bonnie seemed to disappear in her own world again. The silence weighed heavily on Cass as she waited for either of the two to speak.

Max spoke eventually, breaking the tense silence. "I am going to go call my family, and tell them to leave the region right now. It's getting too dangerous to stay here any longer."

He left as Bonnie nodded once. As soon as he disappeared into another room, she got up, making Cass glance at her curiously. "Let's go, Cass," she said. "We still need to talk to Officer Jenny after all."

Cass glanced at her, surprised for a moment, before nodding. As she got up, Bonnie called to Max in the other room and told him that they were leaving. They decided to meet up at the stadium, hoping Ash would be alright even if anything else wasn't. And while they were on it, they also decided to tell their remaining friends to leave the city at the least if they weren't participating.

Max shouted back in agreement. The two girls glanced at each other and left the house as he waited for the call to be picked up. May was the one who picked up his call. She was pleasantly surprised to see him ring her but she was happy nonetheless.

After the initial greetings, Max decided to drop the bomb. "May, I want you to listen to me for once."

May was surprised at his serious tone and calmed down to pay attention to him. "What is it?"

"It'd be better if you left the region with mom and dad as soon as you can," he said grimly.

"Why?"

"I don't think you know but Serena…" Max paused as if trying to choose the right words. Ultimately, he decided to be blunt. "Serena is dead."

He let the news sink in as May stared at him blankly. When the news finally sunk in, she gave him a horrified glance. "You mean…"

"Yeah, she is dead," said Max with a nod and pained expression."She is gone; she won't be back _ever_."

"How…"

"She was killed – I guess, by none other than Team Rocket."

May stayed silent but her face said it all.

"And May, if we are not wrong, there is a quite a chance that you might be their target. I don't want to lose you so please leave the region. Or at least, leave the city."

"…but what about you then?"

"I will be fine."

Max disconnected the call before May could speak back. He turned away from the phone and sighed as he leaned back on the counter. Things weren't going great at all, and if they continued like that, it was going to be hard to find out the criminal – the actual one. He, for a fact, knew that Team Rocket being the criminal was a huge probability, but on the off chance his suspicion turns out to be false, he wanted to make sure he had the clues to the criminal.

He glanced at the clock as he walked out of the room – it was almost nine. He gave another yawn and decided to give up on his sleep for the time being as he went into the bathroom to freshen himself up.

* * *

"So our matches are all today, huh?" asked Cass as she glanced at the screen that showed the next set of matches. She then turned towards Max and Bonnie who were looking at their new Holo Casters that Max had gotten from Clemont a few minutes earlier.

"Consecutive," said Bonnie shortly as she looked up and glanced briefly at the screen. "I am in no mood to drag out any battle. I am just going to destroy the battlefield."

"Well, as long as that doesn't postpone other matches and makes the stadium unsafe, it should be fine," said Cass, sweat-dropping at her.

"Her match is last of us; we shouldn't need to worry," said Max, glancing at her. "We will be done quicker than usual."

"That makes me worry the most," said Cass uneasily. "I don't think Bonnie will hold back if she knows she's last."

Silence descended between the three as they watched the first match of the day start on the television. Bonnie broke it after some time. "It seems like they have kept Serena's death under wraps."

The other two glanced at each other uneasily before giving hesitant nods.

"I think they won't say a word until this tournament is done," commented Cass.

Max shrugged. "I suppose Goodshow must be quite tensed by now. There is nothing he can do about it now."

"Well, let's get to work as soon as we are done," said Cass as she watched the first match end. It was her turn next.

"Do tell me what Officer Jenny said later," said Max as he watched Cass leave. She gave a wave of her hand as she disappeared.

"Why can't I?" asked Bonnie as soon as Cass vanished out of their sight.

Max looked at her hesitantly. "Honestly, I don't think you're in the right mood to talk about anything much other than your revenge for Serena. That's the only thing you've been talking about since we left your house and met up here; Cass mentioned that to me."

Bonnie glared at him for quite some time; then, she sighed. "I am really sorry about that. I just can't think of anything else clearly enough."

"I know that," said Max soothingly. "Why do you think I asked Cass to tell me about what you guys found?"

Bonnie gave a short nod which was followed by an explosion. They jerked their heads towards the screen to see smoke covering the battlefield. It soon dispersed to show an unconscious Emboar. Cass soon appeared and gave a sigh while Max left; it was his turn now.

"Hey Cass?" Bonnie said quietly to get her attention. "I am really sorry if I bothered you earlier when I was continuously talking about revenge for Serena."

Cass sweat-dropped; she felt awkward for some reason. "That's okay, Bonnie. I can understand that you have quite a lot on your mind."

Bonnie gave her a small smile. "Thanks for understanding."

Another explosion interrupted their conversation. Max had won just as easily as Cass had; he soon appeared and nodded at Bonnie who left for her battle. The other two watched her disappear as Max gave a short sigh and looked at the ceiling with a pensive expression on his face. Cass looked at him curiously.

"So do you want to hear what we found out?" she asked, glancing at the screen that showed Bonnie standing on the battlefield with an expressionless face.

"Obviously."

"Apparently, our suspicions were on point," she replied after a while. "The dead person isn't Giovanni; his DNA is different. They haven't found who he is but I am pretty sure it's that green-haired guy I followed earlier – Jake, wasn't it?"

Max nodded. "I still doubt plastic surgery could alter someone so much; I don't know much about it though so can't say for sure."

"I don't know much either," said Cass as another explosion rocked the stadium. "We need to find out more about Team Rocket's current base."

"And what kind of technology they have kept secretly," said Max as they watched Bonnie walk towards them.

She sat down and gave an annoyed sigh. "Let's go; I am fed up of wasting my time now."

"We are too," said Cass as she got up. "Let's go; we should get Cole to find out more about Team Rocket and their current situation."

"Did you tell them what happened yesterday?" asked Max as they got up and walked out of the stadium.

Cass shook her head. "I figured I would let Bonnie tell them since she was closer to her than either of us. Besides, they were already asleep by the time I returned."

Bonnie didn't say anything. Max and Cass didn't push her either. They silently decided to let Bonnie decide everything about this as they went to the Pokémon Centre.

"Guys, let's first go find Ace," said Bonnie, changing the topic. "We need to know what he found about Team Rocket's quest for the primal form."

The other two looked a bit surprised at the sudden change of topic but then decided to keep quiet about it.

"Yeah, we need to know about that," agreed Max with a nod.

"Well, where do you think he would be?" asked Cass thoughtfully. "It's not like we have any idea where he's staying or where he spends his time."

"Knowing him, he is probably in a secluded and well-hidden place somewhere around," said Bonnie without the slightest hint of hesitance in her voice. "Let's go search around the city; we can search the slums the last. I doubt he would be there."

Nodding at each other, the three separated and walked to the extremes of the city in each direction, leaving the slums and that direction for the last. It was decided unanimously that they would meet up if any one of them found anything regarding Ace.

Bonnie took the east side and teleported directly there after making sure no one was watching her. She appeared just outside the city from where wild terrain started; all she could see was trees and trees. She focused her aura and then extended it all the way in front of her as much as she could. She could feel all kinds of auras in her field as she started scanning systematically for Ace's aura signature. It took her over an hour to finish searching but she couldn't sense anything. She wanted to give another try but she suddenly heard Cass's voice in her head; she was telling her and Max to meet up with her on the northwest outskirts of the city.

Bonnie shrugged to herself and at once teleported there. She appeared just in time to see Cass appearing in front of her; a few seconds later, Max appeared as well.

"So did you find something?" asked Max, glancing at Cass.

Cass nodded and pointed in north-northwest direction. "I sensed Ace's aura on the other extreme of the forest in that direction."

Max whistled in surprise. "I shouldn't really be surprised but it amazes me that Ace actually bothers coming all the way to the city from that far out."

"Let's go there," said Bonnie as she teleported away.

Max and Cass exchanged slightly uncomfortable glances; they weren't sure but they had an idea about where this was heading. Nevertheless, they teleported to where they felt Ace's aura only to appeared right in front of him beside Bonnie.

"What do you guys want?" asked Ace monotonously.

"What you found about the primal aura and Team Rocket," replied Bonnie at once. "And of course, it would be even better if you could teach us how to wield it."

"Fuck no," said Ace, glancing at Bonnie like she was mad. "You are way too inexperienced to even think about unlocking it; let alone handle it."

"That's exactly why you teach us – or at least, train us," said Bonnie forcefully, unwilling to let go of the topic. "If we are dealing with enemies who know how to wield it, it will be difficult."

"No need to worry about that," dismissed Ace with a careless wave of his hand.

"Why not?" asked Max curiously.

"I tracked those people down," said Ace glancing at him briefly. "The person who can actually unlock it is Giovanni – that green-haired asshole. I am pretty sure he's had plastic surgery since as far as I know, he doesn't know how to change bodies with someone."

"You know?" asked Cass with a surprised expression.

"Yeah, of course," replied Ace carelessly.

"And what else did you find out?" asked Bonnie, getting everyone back on the topic.

"That they only know how to unlock it; none of them know how the primal form works so they can't handle it," said Ace.

"So there isn't any danger? That's what we should assume?" asked Cass after a bit of thoughtful silence.

"Unless he's a good learner and his body can handle the insane pain, I doubt he could be much of a threat," said Ace offhandedly.

"But you could at least _tell_ us how the primal form works, you know," said Bonnie, getting his attention, "just in case he _does_ learn how to handle it."

"Well, I can't argue _that_ ," conceded Ace after a bit of thought. He got up and started walking. "Come with me; I will show you a place where you can actually feel and see how the primal form works."

Curious, the three started following him. He took them near an unusually large tree and told them to touch the trunk and focus their aura on it. The three followed his instructions and focused their auras on their palms as they touched the trunk of the tree.

And suddenly, they felt themselves being pulled into the tree. They glanced briefly at Ace who simply walked in, letting the force they felt pull him in. The three followed suit and as the distance reduced between them and the tree trunk, they suddenly saw a temporary blinding flash of light – bright enough to force them to close their eyes.

Once the light disappeared, they opened their eyes to be greeted with an unusual sight. Everything was black; wherever they turned, they were greeted by darkness. The black color stared at them from all directions. Strangely, they could see themselves very clearly; it was as if their eyes were specifically made so that they could see themselves even in pitch black darkness.

They could see each other just as clearly. But they were surrounded by blackness everywhere; not a shade of any other color was visible to them. A few more seconds passed before they suddenly felt… energetic. Their respective aura flows seemed to increase exponentially. The three glanced at each other as if to confirm that they weren't the only ones who felt it.

Ace suddenly appeared out of the blackness and walked up to them as they tried to make sense of what was happening.

"Where are we, Ace?" asked Cass curiously.

"The Tree of Beginning," replied Ace casually as he looked away from them into the endless blackness.

"But isn't it in Kanto?" asked Max who had already guessed where they were.

"There are secret ways to get here from all the regions," said Ace. "You just need to know about them."

The three exchanged disbelieving glances before turning their attention back to him. "So, what now? How are we going to learn about primal aura?"

Just as they said that, a pink, bipedal pokémon appeared suddenly and floated towards them as the three gaped at it.

"Mew?!" gasped Cass as she looked at the legendary pokémon in disbelief.

Mew glanced at the three one at a time and then turned towards Ace with a sigh.

 **"Why are you here again?"** Mew's voice clearly resonated in their heads as the pokémon spoke telepathically.

"Again?" said Max, raising an eyebrow at Ace.

Ace shrugged nonchalantly and then turned towards Mew. He gestured towards them as he said, "They are really intent on knowing more about the primal aura. How about you tell them what it exactly is about and then I unlock it?"

 **"It's not a good idea,"** said Mew instantly. **"Not only it would be too dangerous, but it isn't a good idea to unlock it for them; their bodies will forcefully release it on their own when the right time comes."**

"See?" said Ace, giving them an I-told-you-so look.

Bonnie broke the silence that descended on them after that. "But what if we couldn't save Ash from our enemies? Our enemies, as far as we know, know how to unlock that aura."

Mew's eyes widened slightly as it turned towards Ace who nodded.

 **"You can't be serious,"** it said giving a shocked glance. **"You are the only person who needs to know about its secret. How did they find out?"**

"It's your own fault," said Ace casually as he walked some distance away and sat down. "You – and Arceus – were the ones who trusted those idiotic ancestors of ours and hoped they would keep it a secret. I don't know what you were thinking back then but you better treat humans as an extreme last resort to keep a secret."

 **"You are going off topic,"** said Mew warningly.

"I am not," said Ace defiantly. "It sure as hell is _your_ fault for all this trouble. Do you really think we humans would keep a secret _without_ documenting it in some form?"

 **"I can't deny that,"** said Mew slowly as it floated about them in a circle. It seemed thoughtful. After some time, it suddenly stopped floating and flew towards the three. **"Alright Ace, do you think they can handle it?"**

"They can't," said Ace at once, much to their dismay. "But they want to know how it feels so I don't think it would hurt them to temporarily awaken those powers."

 **"I trust you on this one,"** said Mew as it closed its eyes.

Before the three could figure out what was happening, Mew had already flown around them and created a strange circle on the ground below. It was a rather large circle that covered the ground beneath the three of them and had significantly intricate patterns in it that glowed blue rhythmically.

What struck Bonnie the most was the actual patterns she could see. They matched with the ones she had seen forming on Jake when he had activated the primal form. Before she could speak about that though, Mew had already started with her ritual – at least, that was what it seemed.

Mew's eyes opened and glowed bright green as it brought its paws together. A small green aura sphere started forming in between its paws. The pokémon stayed like that for quite a long time during which the three who were standing in the circle started getting fed up.

Just then, Ace broke the silence. "That's enough. Any more of their own power will kill them on the spot."

The small green aura sphere that had formed between Mew's paws then slowly drifted towards the circle on the ground beneath the three who got interested as the ritual progressed. As soon as the green aura touched the circle, the blue color of that changed to green instantly.

As soon as the whole aura circle turned green, Mew's paws shot up. The green aura that had been pulsating inside the circle and following the markings then shot up and covered them in it. And that's when hell broke loose for the three of them.

The green aura made their skin crawl in terror as pain seared through their body, making them feel as if each and every part of their body was on fire. They daren't opened their eyes fearing that they might burn them. The three felt the aura passing through each and every cell of their bodies. Their skin ripped up and they started bleeding profusely. None of them could move; not even the slightest millimeter – the aura prevented them from doing so.

And then suddenly, everything seemingly went back to normal. The pain and the scorching feeling disappeared completely. They slowly opened their eyes, expecting to see themselves bleeding but there wasn't even a drop of blood or even the slightest tear on their bodies.

They turned to look at Mew, who had gone back to normal, and Ace, who was waiting for them to comment. Cass sat down, unable to comprehend what had happened. She gave Ace a look that told him everything.

"See what I mean?" asked Ace, sitting down as well. "That's the power you three hold inside you, and I didn't let Mew unlock more than – say, about ten percent."

"You seriously mean that?" asked Max incredulously as he too sat down. "You have got to be kidding me."

"I am not," said Ace, narrowing his eyes at him. "Why do you think I told you, you aren't ready to handle it?"

"I understand but you could have told us about that incredible potential within every human," said Max with a sigh.

"Who told you every human possesses it?" asked Ace, glancing briefly at Mew before turning towards him.

The three looked up in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said," said Ace impatiently. "Not everyone has the innate ability and talent to handle the primal form. You three are some of the few people who can handle it, if trained well."

The three exchanged surprised glances with each other.

"And just so you know, Ash isn't one of them," added Ace, shocking Max and Bonnie further.

"But isn't he the chosen one?" asked Max, disbelief evident in his voice.

 **"Well, you see, that was a mistake on Arceus' part,"** said Mew sheepishly as it rubbed his head with its tail. **"He gambled when he had to choose the next chosen one. Ash's father was quite mature for his age and he had proved that while on his journey so Arceus thought that Ash would be a great choice. Now that some time has passed, it is obvious to everyone that Ash as the chosen one was a huge mistake."**

"Even after he risked his life to save legendaries of every region?" Max burst out in anger.

"That's just it," pointed out Ace. "The rulers of the world don't need an insane guy who would risk his life _needlessly_ to save them. As far as I know, Ash had _always stupidly_ risked his life for reasons that weren't significant enough ultimately."

"What if he hadn't? Wouldn't the legendaries have died?" asked Bonnie, slight anger evident in her voice.

"No; if he had stayed calm, he would have found out easier and better ways to combat the problems," said Ace as he turned and started walking away. "Mew, throw them away. That's enough for them to know for today."

"Fuck no, Ace," snapped Cass. "We aren't going to leave you alone until you tell us how the aura works."

"Mew!" Ace glanced briefly at the psychic pokémon before disappearing in the darkness as suddenly as he had appeared.

Mew gave a sigh and turned towards the three. **"What would you like to know?"**

"Just about everything that doesn't include how to unlock it," replied Max, glancing briefly at the two girls who nodded. The three sat down while Mew floated around for a while in deep thought as it mulled where to start.

Soon enough, it floated in front of them and started hovering as it started its explanation. **"When Arceus created the universe, it also had a strange side-effect, so to speak. As the universe formed, some of the energy contained in it disintegrated into matter – things, people, planets, galaxies and everything else you can touch in general."**

"Without Arecus doing anything?" asked Cass curiously. "How's that possible if he's the god?"

 **"Just because he's the god doesn't mean he can control everything,"** said Mew with a shake of its head. **"He's still not exempt from what you humans call the laws of physics."**

"If that's the case, how did he exist before the universe?" interjected Max. "Doesn't everything require some space to exist?"

 **"Now that's something you will have to ask Arceus himself,"** replied Mew. **"None of us legendaries have had the guts to speak about it to him."**

"Why?"

 **"He refuses to divulge any information about it."**

"Okay."

Seeing that they had finished their questions for the time being, Mew continued. **"The remaining part of the energy that didn't condense into matter turned into aura powers and psychic powers. The most striking property of those powers was that they got more concentrated at a dense place. The denser a place, the more those powers concentrated there."**

"But wait," interrupted Bonnie, glancing oddly at the psychic pokémon. "Aren't the psychic powers the way they are because of our mind and willpower?"

 **"Well, that's a rather easy way to put it – to explain to a layman. Did Ace tell you about it like that?"** asked Mew curiously. Seeing them nod, Mew gave an inaudible sigh. **"Well, Ace wasn't technically wrong. The psychic powers do exist because of a person's mind and willpower, but the reality is that the psychic powers are nothing other than your brain's concentration aura."**

"What the heck is 'concentration' aura?" asked Max in disbelief. "What kind of an aura is that?"

 **"Exactly what you heard,"** said Mew. **"The psychic powers you use are nothing other than the aura whose properties changed because of your willpower. Human minds have a hidden strength in them that can change an aura's properties if their will is strong enough. We legendaries call it 'concentration' aura because that's how it came to exist – because of mind's concentration. The more and the longer you concentrate, the stronger is that aura – or what you call the psychic powers."**

"Then why didn't Ace explain this to us when he taught how to handle it?" asked Cass curiously, looking at Mew as if it had an answer.

Mew gave a shrug. **"I don't have any idea how his mind works but I assume he deemed it unnecessary for you to know about how it came to exist; you did learn anyway how to wield those powers so I don't think it mattered anyway."**

"Well, I suppose you are right," conceded Cass. "Okay, let's hear the rest."

Mew gave a nod. **"So Earth, as a planet, was rather denser compared to others of the same composition – again due to laws of physics; Arceus didn't have any hand in whatever formed after he created the universe."**

 **"Because of the denseness of earth, the amount of powers that gathered around it and settled there was quite a lot more than normal. And since there was nothing to control them in any way, they were quite wild, destroying the small cells that formed. This continued for longer than usual because of the amount of the aura. The destruction stopped only when the cells that started forming were able to withstand the lashing power. It was then that Arceus decided to hand someone the responsibility of knowing and managing the power until his/her death – that was how the title of 'The Chosen One' came to be."**

The three were listening, fascinated at the story. Mew seemed pleased to see that she could hold their attention in something like history for that long. From what she had seen, only a few humans from their large population were actually interested in learning history. It was happy to see that it had the attention of three of those.

It continued since the three listeners didn't ask any question. **"Of course, it took some time until humans evolved to think the way they do now; until then, Arceus kept on interfering with the universe he had created – which was something against his own rules that he had formed."**

"Why?" Bonnie cut in with a question.

 **"Again, don't ask me,"** said Mew with a shake of its head. **"Only Arceus knows about some things; this is one of them."**

Bonnie nodded in response. Cass then intercepted with another question. "And how did the Tree of Beginning come to exist?"

 **"I am getting there,"** said Mew with a nod. **"The Tree of Beginning is how Arceus interacted with this world. He lives in his own dimension that prevents him from directly interacting with this world so he had to create a passage that can be opened only by a particular set of characters that is a part of your aura signature. Again, not everyone can do this; there are a million different aura signatures but only say about fifty or so match – per million – with the set of characters that Arceus decided."**

"What do you mean: 'set of characters'?" asked Max, raising an eyebrow at the psychic pokémon.

 **"You do sign on papers, don't you?"** asked Mew, glancing at them one at a time. **"You can say that aura signatures have a similar set of characters that are unique to each person."**

Seeing him nod, the floating pokémon continued with its explanation. **"After the first humans evolved, Arceus stopped interfering with the world. The aura, wild as it always had been, went on its destruction spree as soon as he stopped. The humans, whose thinking faculties were just starting to develop, were afraid but curious about the aura's existence. As they learnt to handle and wield it soon enough, they realized the dangerous potential it had and started thinking of ways to dilute its power. They ended up finding a way to seal it in a human DNA; don't ask me how – I wasn't around then."**

"That sounds kind of unbelievable, considering this was way back in history," commented Bonnie.

 **"True,"** said Mew with a nod. **"But you see – some civilizations had progressed a lot more quickly than others. That's why those civilizations found a way to handle it; they sealed it in every living being's DNA – all of the aura that was running wild and destroying everything on the planet. They sealed it everywhere – inside plants, microbes, and other things, including humans. That was how large the quantity of the aura that collected on the planet was."**

 **"But of course, humans are humans. Some of the ones who sealed it didn't want to completely forget about this aura's existence like the rest of their civilization. They decided to appoint a torchbearer, so to speak, to keep this knowledge from disappearing and gave him the task to appoint a new one when on his/her deathbed. This has been continuing ever since; Ace's the one right now – and he will probably be the last one."**

"Why last?" asked Cass instantly.

Mew gave them a surprised look. **"Didn't Ace tell you about his birth?"**

The three shook their heads as they exchanged glances. Something seemed strange to them about the way Mew had asked the question.

Mew gave them a thoughtful look. Eventually, it spoke. **"I will leave it to Ace to tell you about that. You will know why he's the last chosen one as well as the 'torchbearer' of the knowledge of this wild aura when he tells you everything about himself."**

The three exchanged glances again as they nodded. Ace was as much of a mystery to them as to the others so it would be better if they asked him rather than getting to know the information from someone else.

 **"Any more questions?"** asked Mew as it started floating around. **"You can ask me any question as long as it doesn't involve Ace in any way; he's the one who will tell you the rest of the things."**

"Any particular reason why?" asked Bonnie, raising an eyebrow at Mew.

 **"Let's just say, things ended up that way,"** said Mew, much to their frustration. **"Like I said, I can answer everything as long as it doesn't involve Ace in any way."**

"Can we know how you and Ace met?" asked Max as a last attempt at getting to know something about the mystery guy.

 **"No,"** replied Mew firmly. **"I never go back on my word so don't ask questions in hopes that I might let something slip."**

The three sighed dejectedly. After some time of silence, Cass asked the question for which they were there in the first place. "How about telling us a bit more about how primal aura works? Ace did mention it worked differently."

 **"I can answer** ** _that_** **,"** said Mew with a nod as it slowed down. **"What would you like to know?"**

"Exactly what I said," replied Cass. "How differently primal aura works from normal aura."

Mew was silent for a while. Eventually, the pokémon spoke. **"There are a few basic rules of how aura works; I take it you know them."** Seeing them nod, it continued. **"The primal form breaks some of those rules. First of all and the most important rule: The aura has a brain of its own."**

"What do you mean by _that_?" interjected Bonnie at once. "And how does it 'think' if that's what you mean?"

 **"Basically, the aura chooses its owner – much like how pokémon do in general,"** replied Mew. **"As to how it 'thinks', that's a part of the side-effect I mentioned earlier. Even I don't know how that happens."**

"I take it Arceus knows about that as well," said Bonnie, raising an eyebrow at the psychic pokémon.

Mew nodded. **"Arceus kept quite a lot of secrets to itself; none of the other legendaries that formed later on had any say in it."**

"I would like to know some day about how legendaries came to be the way they are right now," commented Cass.

Mew seemed pleased. It continued with its explanation of primal aura. **"The second rule that pertains to the first rule: The aura chooses its owner on the basis of his/her power and skill in wielding the normal form, and his/her way of handling emotionally-draining situations – the latter condition first."**

"You mean, like, the way a person gets a sudden power boost in his aura if he's angry because of some emotional scar or something along that line?" asked Max curiously.

Mew nodded. **"Exactly. Ash is the kind of person who gets easily blinded by anger if something happens to things or people he holds close – the primal aura doesn't need that kind of person who will unlock it as naively as that. It chooses a person if s/he can handle a situation calmly – much like Ace does. That's one of the reasons why he can – or more likely, is allowed – to brandish the primal form. Of course, before the aura chooses its owner, it also checks how skilled that person is in manipulating the normal form. If s/he hasn't had any training at all, then no matter how well s/he can handle an emotional scar, the aura won't choose him/her."**

"That sounds kind of – I don't know – a complicated way of choosing an owner," said Max thoughtfully.

 **"It probably is,"** agreed Mew with a nod. **"But that's no different from what we pokémon do – except we do it a tad bit differently. We want humans to not only be skilled in using our powers but also empathize with us; we don't want to be used."**

"I think I understand," said Max nodding. "What's next?"

 **"The third rule: once the aura chooses its owner, it puts him/her through a shitload of pain,"** said Mew bluntly. **"There's no other way of saying that. If I am not wrong, Bonnie has already seen that; am I right, Bonnie?"**

Bonnie nodded. "Why?"

 **"I guess it's like a final confirmation to see if the owner can really handle it,"** replied Mew. **"Because even in its weakest condition, the aura still possesses enough power to rupture the vital blood vessels in the human body. So in a way, the aura is also checking to see how much pain the owner can handle."**

The three listeners nodded. It was becoming increasingly obvious to them that the primal form was a lot more different – and difficult – to handle than the normal form.

 **"Now, Bonnie,"** said the psychic pokémon, getting the blonde's attention. **"Since you saw what happened with those guys in the forest, do you recall something different when the primal form was unlocked?"**

Bonnie nodded at once. "Some strange marks formed on Jake's arms and they were growing slowly as he absorbed more of the primal form. I don't recall anything like that when Ace showed us _his_ primal aura."

 **"Yep, that's the fourth rule,"** said Mew with a nod. **"Those black marks show how skilled the person is with his normal form and if he has unlocked the primal form while their crisscrossing shows how skilled that person is with his primal form."**

"Which means," started Cass, figuring out what Mew meant, "which means that the more the black marks, the less skilled the person is in his normal form, and in the same way, the more those black marks cross each other, the less skilled that person is in his primal form."

 **"You are partially right,"** said Mew, rather pleased to see Cass figuring out that much. **"The latter part is true; the former part was wrong. The presence of those black marks** ** _proves_** **the person's skill in manipulating the primal form. In other words, if the person can wield the primal form, those black marks should exist on his body – they are permanent."**

"Then how come Ace…?" started Max.

Mew intercepted with the explanation. **"Ace learnt to handle the primal form rather quickly, and after those black marks formed on his body, he had to find a way to hide them. Have you ever seen Ace trying to hide his presence?"**

"Well, he did hide his presence when he was training us to increase our sensing area," said Bonnie slowly. "But I think you mean what you say – that if we have _seen_ him hide his presence. Am I right?"

Mew nodded. **"You are quick on picking up on things. Yes, I do mean what I said. If I am not wrong, Ace has** ** _never_** **actually hidden his presence in front of anyone. He does so only when he is out of sight of everyone."**

"That's interesting," said Cass thoughtfully. "I would like to see the actual markings."

 **"If a person is proficient in using the primal aura, the marks on his body will be perfectly straight,"** said Mew. **"Ace's body is completely covered with evenly spaced black lines and they are present from head to toe on his body. There's no way he would be easily able to mingle with other people with that kind of body so obviously, he had to figure out a way to hide them."**

Max whistled in surprise. "That's quite a surprise; I had wondered – back when we were training – why Ace never hid his presence while in front of us. That explains it."

"So in other words," said Bonnie, "if a person unlocks the primal aura while being proficient with the regular form, those black stripes _will_ form on his body and start covering him."

 **"Exactly,"** said Mew with a nod. **"And they will interweave if s/he has just unlocked it. The crisscrossing will reduce as s/he gets proficient with the primal form. Once s/he gets complete control on it, the stripes will be completely straight and by that time, will be covering the person's body from head to toe."**

"Alright, that's interesting," said Cass with a nod. "Is there anything else?"

 **"Well, there** ** _is_** **a perk of getting control of the primal form,"** said Mew slowly. **"Since the primal aura formed as a side-effect to the birth of the universe, it shares half of its signature with the set of characters of the aura signature that Arceus decided when creating the Tree of Beginning. In simpler words, if a human's unique aura signature was that of, say, thirty-two characters, then Arceus had decided sixteen of them that would be able to open the passage in the Tree of Beginning. The primal aura has at least ten of these sixteen characters that match perfectly. Therefore, if you can handle the primal aura, the perk you get is that you will be able to directly contact Arceus through the primal aura."**

The three let Mew's words slowly sink in. It felt so surreal when they actually thought about Mew's words that for a moment, they had to wonder if they were dreaming.

"So if I can handle the primal form, I can simply contact Arceus while wielding it – through telepathy," said Cass, raising an eyebrow at the floating pokémon. "Am I right?"

Mew nodded at her. **"Exactly, accurately, perfectly right; make no mistake though. It's really, really hard for even us legendaries to be able to directly contact him so I can't say if the primal form will be more effective or not."**

Bonnie gave a surprised look. "Can't you use the primal aura? I thought you could."

Mew laughed. **"We probably can if we try. But after seeing what Ace's Infernape went through, I think we are better off not trying it at all. Apparently, it is a lot harder for a pokémon to handle it than for a human."**

The three glanced at each other before turning back to the legendary pokémon in front of them. Something about the way it had laughed had made their skin crawl with terror; its words seemed even more sinister. They decided to not ask how hard it was; instead, Max asked if there was any other rule that the primal aura followed or if everything else was same like the regular form.

 **"The fifth rule: never ever use the primal form as a way to heal wounds – even if those injuries are** ** _because_** **of the primal form,"** said Mew with a rather grim tone. **"The aura will deal more damage than heal the injured. If you need to heal someone, you** ** _have_** **to lock your primal form and then start healing."**

"It's a good thing you told us _that_ ," said Max with a nod of his head. "I honestly don't want to know what would happen if we use the primal form. Anything else?"

Mew shook its head. **"There's nothing else I remember at the moment so I can't explicitly answer. I think you'd be better off if you are wary of the primal form in the first place and let Ace handle it."** Seeing them nod, it asked, **"Is there anything else you would like to know?"**

"I hope I am not overstepping the boundaries you might have set by asking this question," said Bonnie slowly as she formed a question she had in her mind for quite some time. "But I would like to know what Arceus's aura signature is."

 **"Sorry but you** ** _are_** **violating the boundaries we have set,"** replied Mew warningly. **"I am in charge of taking care of humans who do so but since Ace was the one who brought you here, I am letting you off the hook for the time being. You are better off not asking anything like that again."**

The three exchanged glances. Cass too had a question after hearing Mew talk about Ace the way it did.

"If you don't mind me asking, why do you treat Ace with so much respect?" she asked, breaking the slight tension that had formed. "I mean, it is hard to see legendaries treating a human like that when we treat you as gods basically."

 **"That's because of his proficiency with the primal form and because of his sense of justice,"** said Mew quickly. **"He's the most skilled person to ever exist who can control the primal aura the way he does. He's rather blunt but his sense of justice is so on point that many a times Arceus lets him handle decisions that require perfect impartiality."**

The three exchanged glances obviously amazed by how high of an opinion the legendaries – and even Arceus – had of their friend. They were about to discuss when to talk to Ace about all of this when Mew clicked its tongue in slight annoyance.

 **"It seems like you will have to leave now,"** said Mew, glancing briefly at them. **"I assume Ace never told you but the time passage in this realm is different from your world. More than a day has already passed there, and if I am not wrong, you still have to participate in that tournament of yours."**

"Shit! You seriously don't mean that, do you?" asked Max jumping to his feet along with the girls.

Mew gave a casual shrug of its shoulders. **"Why would I lie?"**

"Then please teleport us outside," requested Max at once. "And thanks a lot for all the information you gave us. That will be helpful."

Mew chuckled. **"Alright. It's good to see well-behaved humans once in a while. I too had fun recounting the history. If you ever have to ask anything, make sure to come here."**

"Okay thanks!" The three shouted as they disappeared in a flash of light.

As soon as the flash of light disappeared, another appeared and covered the blackness of the Tree of Beginning in white. As the glow faded slightly, Mew saw Arceus hovering in front of her.

 **"Arceus?"** Mew squeaked out taken by surprise.

 **"Are you sure you shouldn't have told them about what had been going on since the fiasco three years ago?"** asked Arceus monotonously, getting straight to the point.

Mew nodded. **"I know I am taking a risk but I believe they will be able to handle it. The news should be rife right now in their world. It won't take them long to figure out what has been happening."**

Arceus gave a quiet sigh. **"I hope you are right."**

Mew nodded as well. **"I hope so too."**


	15. Cass vs Ace

Chapter 15: Cass vs Ace

The three reappeared inside the forest. It was dark when they appeared. They knew it was hopeless to check the time at the moment since they had spent what seemed like about an hour inside the Tree of Beginning. If what Mew had said was true, they would need to reset the time and date of their new Holo Casters later on.

They decided to fly to the Lumiose City as they used their psychic powers on themselves and started floating. Nodding at each other, they started towards the city whose lights they could see twinkling near the horizon. They flew silently, each of them lost in their own thoughts.

"If what Mew said is right, our next matches should be today," said Cass, finally breaking the silence. The two turned to look at her as they nodded.

"But that isn't our main focus just yet," said Bonnie. "We still need to find more information about Team Rocket."

"Oh, about that," said Cass as if something just occurred to her. "I think Cole should have found something by now."

"Didn't you say you didn't tell them anything?" asked Max, slightly surprised.

"I didn't tell them about what went down at the hospital," replied Cass, glancing at him briefly. "But I did tell Cole before leaving that we want all the information he can find about the current whereabouts of Team Rocket."

"You seem to be spending a lot of time with him," said Bonnie slyly as she grinned.

Cass smirked back at her. "It's not like I can do anything else what with you and Max dating and stuff."

"Yeah right," scoffed Max. "You don't know that for sure."

"Neither do you about me," retorted Cass instantly. "In all honesty, he just isn't my type so it wouldn't work out even if we did try – which is obviously not going to happen."

"You don't know that for sure," said Bonnie, glancing back ahead.

"You don't either," responded Cass with a sigh. "You two don't have any proof if either of us is into the other; I do have proof that you are together. I wonder how Cole would react if he did find out about your almost-had-sex moment."

"Let's not discuss about that," said Bonnie, slightly red in the face. "We are going off-topic now."

"Yeah right," said Cass, chuckling loudly. She then got serious. "Where should we head off to first? Pokémon Centre?"

"Let's first see what time it is though," said Max as he looked in the east; they could see a faint light at the horizon. "It seems like it is time for daybreak; I guess it won't hurt Cole to get up earlier than usual."

The two girls seemed to agree as the city they were heading off to, drew close. Once they were close enough, they unanimously decided to land and started walking. It would take them longer surely but it would be better than to attract unneeded attention to them. They walked briskly as the early morning risers around them continued with their running, not paying any attention to them.

They reached their destination rather quickly. Quickly walking in, they briefly glanced at the reception desk where a sleepy Nurse Joy greeted them as they made their way to Cole's room. The door opened the moment they knocked. They were greeted by two worried girls, looking relieved to see them.

"Where were you guys all this time?" asked Alicia, quickly inviting them. Relief was evident in her voice.

"We just got absorbed in some work," replied Max sweat-dropping. "But why are you two worried?"

"Cole went after you guys," replied Heidi promptly. "He did find out some things about Team Rocket that Cass had told him to but when you guys didn't return yesterday night, he decided to go after you; he hasn't returned yet."

"And you were so worried that you couldn't sleep, I presume," asserted Cass, glancing briefly towards Bonnie and then Max. The two girls nodded at her.

"Didn't you see him anywhere?" asked Heidi worriedly.

"We would have if we had been walking," said Bonnie with a sigh. "As it was, we were flying towards Lumiose so we wouldn't be able to see him – and we weren't focusing on sensing anyone since we were tired, so there's that."

"Then we should go after him," said Alicia at once as she got up from her seat.

"I am not so sure about that," said Cass slowly. She glanced at the two girls. "Did Cole hand you whatever information he had found?"

The two girls exchanged glances and then shook their heads. Cass leaned back at their response and stared at the ceiling thoughtfully for some time as the other four waited for her to speak. After a long pause, she finally spoke with a sigh. "We need to go after Cole right now. If Team Rocket finds him, they will know that he has all their secret information – and if that happens, chances are they will kill him. We need to find him before that happens."

Both Heidi and Alicia felt thunderstruck even though they anticipated that; somehow, hearing it being said out loud made them feel the gravity of the situation.

"Do you have any idea where he went off to after he left?" asked Max, glancing back at the two shocked girls. The two girls exchanged glances and after a short silence, shook their heads.

"He never told us where he was going," said Alicia.

"All we know that he wanted to find you; he never told us how he was going to find out about you," replied Heidi, gritting her teeth in suppressed anger. "How idiotic of him."

"Truly idiotic," agreed Max. "But it's too late to say that now. Let's go out; he probably is already outside the city if he really was after us. We have been outside the city for quite a while."

"More than a day actually," corrected Heidi with a shake of her head. "You guys disappeared after your matches the day before yesterday. All we heard from Cole that he knew you were outside the city when he left."

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" asked Bonnie, turning around.

"For Ace," replied Heidi with a sigh. "Don't forget; we still had to meet him for training even after we heard that the hospital collapsed. He just doesn't let go."

Max and Bonnie froze imperceptibly when they heard her mention the hospital. Bonnie bit her bottom lip hard as the images from the day started coming to her one after another. Max had already seen her react so he decided to do the best possible thing in their scenario. Figuring that Bonnie still wasn't ready to let them know what had happened at the hospital, he said, "Let's split up. Heidi, you and Alicia should go in the direction where you saw Cole running off to. Cass and we will check two of the other three sides. If any of us spots Ace, do tell him to check in the last direction; we will be more efficient that way."

As he directed them and split them up, he telepathically told Cass to leave him and Bonnie alone. Cass, though amused, gave an imperceptible nod, understanding his reasons. Max sighed to himself as he thanked her for understanding the situation.

Cass went to the other two girls and teleported away along with them. Max then put a hand on Bonnie's shoulder and teleported away as well. The two reappeared at the outskirts of the city, near the denser part of forest, as Max let go of her.

"I will be fine, Max," said Bonnie; her voice cracked a bit as she said that.

Max felt sad for her but there was nothing he could say to her to make her feel better. Seeing her like that, made him even sadder. He couldn't hold back and slid his hands around her waist from behind, hugging her tightly.

His sudden gesture took Bonnie by surprise and for a moment, her mind blanked. It took some time but she started feeling better soon enough. She turned around in his arms and hugged him back, feeling a lot better than earlier.

"You know what, Max?" she spoke softly in his ear. "Being with you makes me feel a lot better."

She got a tighter hug in response. She backed away her head from the hug and leaning in, softly pressed her lips against his. For some reason, it felt like such a natural thing to do in that situation that even Bonnie found it hard to believe that she could do so without over-thinking.

The kiss, even though lasting for just a couple of seconds, felt incredible to the two of them. The two stared into each others' eyes for a while after they separated. Their minds were blanked out because of the abruptness of the kiss but neither of them regretted it even for a bit.

Max placed his forehead against hers as he smiled genuinely at her. "Good to see that I am of some use to you," he said playfully.

Bonnie scoffed at him. "You do realize you're pretty much my boyfriend now, don't you?"

"Of course I do," said Max, looking at her as if she was mad. "Who in their right mind wouldn't want to be your boyfriend?"

"You're praising me too much," she replied back, even though she felt pleased. "I will become narcissistic."

"Don't worry about that," said Max, smirking at her. "I will make sure you don't get too self-absorbed."

Bonnie laughed. "That's the least I can expect out of you." She looked at him only to see him staring at her blatantly. "What happened?"

He shook his head. "Just thinking how I was able to land a beautiful girl like you."

His words made her blush madly. Seeing her reaction, Max laughed out loud. "It's funny to see you so flustered when you are usually pretty much cool-headed about everything."

"I-I can't help it, okay?" said Bonnie, obviously uncomfortable as she glanced away.

"You _can_ help it," said Max, attracting her curiosity. She glanced at him inquisitively as he continued with a rather alluring smile. "I guess you just need to be horny enough to lose that shyness."

Bonnie's eyes widened as she felt herself reddening uncontrollably. "Can we not talk about _that_?"

"How can we not talk about that?" asked Max with the smile still on his face as his hands slowly made their way down from her waist. "We almost had sex, you know."

"Yeah but…" Bonnie couldn't finish her sentence as she felt Max stroke the rather sensitive points on her bottom. She felt herself enjoying it, rather unwillingly at first. "This really isn't the right time, Max," she said when he paused for a moment. "We still need to find out about Cole."

Max stopped after hearing her words. He pulled back his hands off her with a sigh. "I guess you are right. I did want to continue though."

Bonnie wanted that to continue if she were honest with herself. It just wasn't their priority right then. She figured they could continue after they had found Cole out. Until then, they needed to hold back for the sake of others. Nonetheless, she did give Max a peck on the lips.

"I guess we will have to make do with that for the time being," she said, walking a few steps away from him and giving him a captivating smile. "We can continue later; in fact, I do want to continue later."

Max gave her a surprised look before starting to laugh. Bonnie looked confused but Max's next words cleared her confusion and even flustered her.

"You really lose your shyness when you do want something," he said, laughing loudly.

Bonnie glared at him as she turned away from him in exasperation and embarrassment. "Let's go," she said, huffing. "I feel quite pissed off at you but there's nothing I can do right now."

Max only guffawed but agreed with her nonetheless. "Let's go," he said and then paused. "But where? It's not like we have tried sensing Cole yet."

Bonnie paused at his words and then gave a sheepish nod. "Let's try and sense him first. I will teleport ahead just outside your range so that we can scan more area."

Max at first wanted to disagree but then the logical side of his brain kicked in and he gave a nod. "Alright."

As soon as he nodded, Bonnie disappeared in a flash of light. Max, too, started focusing on his aura and started scanning the whole area that fell within his sensing range. As he scanned the vicinity in the forest, he felt Bonnie's aura appearing almost near the edge of the forest on the other side. He didn't feel any other presence and so decided that she was safe for the time being.

It took him about half an hour but he finished examining the forest as much as he could in time. He hadn't sensed anything during that time so he decided to teleport to Bonnie who he still felt was standing just at the edge of his range. Before he did so though, he tried contacting Cass telepathically but couldn't sense her at all. He thought it to be strange but shrugged the feeling off as he teleported away.

* * *

Bonnie appeared at the edge of the forest on the opposite side of where she had been standing with Max. She could still feel Max's aura albeit barely and just at the edge of her sensing range. She didn't feel any other presence in her immediate vicinity and so figured that she would be safe for the time being. It wasn't that she was afraid of anyone appearing there; it was more of an assurance that she would be able to scrutinize the area easily without any trouble.

She started and it took her just over twenty minutes before she finished; she hadn't found anything even remotely interesting or useful during that time. She decided to contact Max and was about to teleport back as well when she suddenly felt a familiar aura's presence near her – it was Ace's.

A moment later, Ace appeared through the bushes and noticed her. Bonnie was alert for a second as she confirmed his aura signature.

"Bonnie, I want you to go after Cass," he said with slight frustration in his voice.

Bonnie's eyes narrowed. "Any particular reason why?"

"Yeah," said Ace as he started walking away. "You will see what I mean when you find her. Also, tell Max to first tell those two girls to not meet me today or tomorrow."

As soon as he said that, he disappeared in a flash of light, leaving Bonnie staring at where he had been standing just a moment ago. A few seconds later, another flash of light appeared and Bonnie saw Max materializing behind her. She raised an eyebrow at him and noticing that, he nodded.

"What did he say?" asked Max as he walked up to her and stood beside her.

"Just that we need to go after Cass," replied Bonnie thoughtfully. "He specifically told me that I should go after her and you should tell Alicia and Heidi to not meet up with him today or tomorrow. He didn't specifically say what or why we should do this. What do you say?"

Max sighed. "Do we have a choice? Ace's judgment has been a hundred percent accurate all this time; I guess we simply trust him like always and do as he says."

Bonnie glanced at him for a second and then shrugged. "I don't really like following orders like that without knowing the reason but I guess you do have a point. Ace never stated where Cass was so I guess I have got my work cut out for me. How about you go ahead and tell those two about not meeting up with Ace?"

Max gave a shrug. "I guess I will. That reminds me; I should tell them to note when our turn is during this next round and who our opponents are."

As he said that, he disappeared again, leaving Bonnie alone in the forest, much to her exasperation and reluctance. Nevertheless, she took a deep breath and decided to focus on finding out Cass's location.

Just then, she felt her Holo Caster vibrate in her pocket. Curious about the unexpected vibration, she pulled out the device from her pocket only to see a message from Cass. It only contained the coordinates – of Cass's location, Bonnie presumed. Something about the message's contents only being coordinates made Bonnie think that it was really urgent.

 _Does Ace already know what is happening with Cass?_ She thought as she opened the maps in her device and searched the coordinates. The map showed up the location as about a few miles in the north from her position.

Needless to say, Bonnie quickly moved and started in that direction; she would have preferred teleporting there but using too much aura might completely drain her of her energy. She wanted to conserve her energy just in case she had to fight. Her stamina was quite high thanks to the everyday training so she could easily handle the little bit of running.

It took her a while but she reached the specified coordinates just in time to see Cass staring tensely at her opponent, Pete. She felt Cole's aura somewhere around them but it was really weak. Something about the situation felt fishy but Bonnie, nevertheless, decided to intrude in the tenseness instead of sitting out of sight and waiting for events to happen.

Pete looked slightly taken aback at her sudden appearance but it was only a momentary reaction which was swiftly replaced by the coldness that had been there in the first place. He quietly observed her as she slowly walked towards Cass keeping an eye on him. Cass looked relieved at her presence and she loosened up a little as she stared at their opponent.

 **"What's going on here, Cass?"** asked Bonnie as she stood beside her, still staring at Pete. **"And did you meet Ace? He seemed to know something bad was about to happen to you."**

 **"I managed to sense Cole's aura albeit barely,"** replied Cass, glancing momentarily at her. **"I teleported all the way here and saw as Pete threw Cole into the forest; I think in the fake Ace's hands – I am not sure. I didn't see much but I did get a glance at Cole. He's in absolutely no condition to stay conscious. I'd say he has a maximum of two days to live. I don't know how but it seemed like his liver was completely damaged. I don't know about the how's and why's."**

 **"Then go ahead after them,"** said Bonnie, getting ready to fight. **"I should be able to distract him temporarily."**

 **"You probably can't,"** replied Cass distastefully. **"I think your sudden appearance caught him off-guard so he has placed a barrier around us; I feel it."**

And Bonnie realized she was right as she felt his aura enveloping their surroundings. She hadn't been alert enough or she shouldn't have been easily caught in a barrier like that. She glanced at Cass uncertainly as if asking her what to do now. Cass shook her head imperceptibly; she had no idea what to do either. The only thing she knew – both of them knew, in fact – was they would have to fight Pete unless they were fortunate enough to have something get in the way and at least disable Pete's barrier.

But Cass had a lingering doubt in her mind about their current situation. It was as if Pete shouldn't have been there when she followed Cole's aura. It was like something had abruptly changed their plans and they had to do whatever they had come there for. Pete's expression, when she had suddenly found them, had raised that uncertainty in her mind. It was just a gut feeling, she thought, but it was disturbing her quite a lot – so much so that she mentioned it to Bonnie telepathically while Pete looked on motionlessly.

Bonnie seemed surprised at her statement but she didn't say anything. She glanced back at Pete whose posture seemed rather tense.

 **"So what should we do?"** she asked Cass, still alert. She had no idea why Pete was not making a move but she daren't let her guard down.

Cass didn't reply immediately, making Bonnie impatient. She turned to glance at her friend just as she spoke up. **"Hey, Bonnie, doesn't it seem like the barrier here is disappearing?"**

Bonnie realized she was right; she couldn't feel the barrier to be as strong or intense as earlier. Neither of the girls had any idea why their opponent suddenly decided to let them go so they couldn't completely trust the situation. They turned back to look at him only to see him making an agonized expression on his face.

And that was when they felt Cole's aura – a bit stronger than earlier.

The two girls exchanged glances and nodded. Both of them created sharp swords out of their aura as they raced swiftly towards the still motionless Pete. The two neared him on either side and as they closed the distance, swung their swords at his legs. The swords passed cleanly through his legs right under the knees.

But Pete still stayed immobile. He still hadn't fallen even though his legs were severed and now were bleeding intensely. Cole's aura could still be felt around them; it was more concentrated now and felt somewhere to their right.

The two girls glanced at the motionless and bleeding opponent of theirs briefly and then started towards where they felt Cole's aura. They must not have gone more than a few meters ahead when they came upon him sitting at the base of a tree. He had been coughing out blood recently when they saw the red liquid splattered on the ground in front of him as well as on his clothes; there were a few drops trickling from his mouth. There didn't seem any other physical injury so they figured that the injuries must be internal.

There wasn't any other presence around them other than Pete as they bent down near him and touched him lightly. It seemed like he felt them because almost immediately they heard the unmistakable sound of a human body falling on the ground. A moment later, the tenseness in Cole's body vanished and he slumped further down. He painfully turned to look at the two and gave a small smile.

The two girls exchanged glances and sighed at him. Cass checked for the internal wounds and after a while found them.

"His stomach has been burst open," she said, glancing at Bonnie who was taken aback. "His liver is badly damaged as well."

"How is he still alive?" asked Bonnie disbelievingly.

"Frankly, I don't care," said Cass, sitting down and starting to heal the wounds as much as she could. "We just need to heal him for the time being and take him to the hospital… Oh, I forgot it collapsed earlier."

There was a pause for a while after which Bonnie spoke up. "Why do you think Max is taking such a long time to teleport back to us?"

"What do you mean?" asked Cass curiously, a bit taken aback at the sudden change in topic. "Did something happen that made you separate?"

"Ace appeared," replied Bonnie and explained what had transpired afterwards. Cass looked surprised when she heard Ace already knew something was happening with her.

"Didn't you ask why he couldn't come when he could sense me?" she asked when Bonnie finished.

"As if he would let me ask a question," she said sarcastically. "He teleported away quickly afterwards."

Cass gave an annoyed sigh as she got up. "Let's go now," she said, picking up Cole from one side. "We'll find Max when we get to Lumiose City."

Bonnie nodded as she supported Cole on the other side and they disappeared in a bright flash of light.

* * *

Max appeared at the outskirts of the city and started running towards the Pokémon Centre. As he passed a shop, he happened to glance at the wall clock inside and saw the time – it was just past eight in the morning. He decided to just as well check who their opponents were now that it was almost time for the tournament. He also figured he could try and convince Heidi and Alicia to leave the region for the time being just in case someone tried to get their hands on them again.

He reached the Centre just as the clock struck ten minutes past eight. Greeting the nurse sitting at the reception curtly, he quickly made his way towards Alicia's room where he assumed the two girls would be. His guess was right; Alicia opened the door when he knocked. She quickly ushered him in and then closed the door.

"Did you find him?" asked Heidi worriedly.

"Not yet," replied Max much to their dismay. "I expect Bonnie would be able to at least get a clue about him though."

"Why is she going alone?" asked Alicia concernedly.

"Cass must be there," said Max, knowing that Bonnie had gone after the girl. "But that's not the point right now."

"What do you mean?"

"Ace has forbidden you from meeting him until he says so," said Max. "I don't know why he said that but he expressly told us to tell you right now. That's the only reason why I am here."

Alicia and Heidi exchanged glances. "Alright, I guess. We did go to train today but he never showed up."

Max looked thoughtful. After a while, he sighed. "Well, he never told us what he wanted or why he wanted you to not come." He glanced at the time again and set his Holo Caster at the right time. He gave another sigh as he did so. "I would have liked to go back but I guess I will stay back and see who our opponents are in this round."

"Is that even necessary?" asked Heidi impatiently. "You should go back; we will see who your opponents are."

Max shook his head. "Even if I wanted to, I can't; I just remembered I had some pending work here so I will have to do that first. But I will leave the information of our opponents to you."

"Where are you going?" asked Alicia as Max walked towards the door.

"I have some work; didn't I tell you already?" said Max, pausing to glance back at them. "Just make sure to let us know about our opponents. All three of us should be able to come to the stadium in time."

With that, he left the two girls behind and started off from the Pokémon Centre. He made his way to the stadium where he knew most of the gym leaders were staying due to their hectic schedules. He went inside the stadium as soon as he reached there and made his way towards the living quarters. It took him some time but he soon found Clemont's room.

He paused for a second outside the door and then proceeded to knock sharply. Clemont opened the door immediately and was visibly surprised to see Max standing there. He quickly invited him in and then sat down on the bed after closing the door. Max looked thoughtfully at the blonde inventor who looked as if he hadn't had a good night's sleep.

"Hey Max," the inventor spoke up. "I had been busy. What do you want right now?"

"I was wondering where you had been busy all this time," said Max, glancing away from him and scrutinizing the room.

"I had been busy installing security cameras all over the city and then connecting them with the main computer in the Prism Tower and at the police station. It has been a huge amount of work since Officer Jenny didn't want to leave any place out while installing them."

There was a pause as Max looked at the ground pensively. After some time, he spoke up. "Can you do me a favor, Clemont, if it isn't too much?"

"Depends on what it is," replied Clemont; it was obvious though that he was curious.

"If you possibly could, can you find out more about Giovanni's earlier prison break?"

"What do you mean?"

"Apparently, Giovanni had been arrested earlier for something – I don't know what. And he had managed to escape the prison and evade the police, and eventually form Team Rocket. I want to know how and why he did so."

Clemont looked thoughtful. "I don't know, Max. It will take quite a lot of time to find all of that information. I am not sure I want to do that right now – at least not immediately. I can do this, say, after the quarter finals finish. The workload should have lessened by then."

Max gave him a thoughtful look. "That's fine," he said after a while. "That should be helpful."

"Why do you want to know that though?"

"Just something that I have been feeling curious about for a while now," replied Max. He thanked the inventor and left the room – this time headed to his father's room.

He knocked on the door and it was opened immediately by his father who, upon seeing it was his son, enveloped him in a tight hug. Max returned it, feeling glad to see his dad after such a long time.

"I had thought you had forgotten about us," said Norman, pulling Max in the room. His mother, Caroline was sitting on the bed when he entered. She immediately gave him a bear hug which he gladly returned. May, who was in the room as well, hugged him too.

"Alright Max, tell us what you meant by that sudden call of yours to May," said Caroline seriously when they separated. "I want to know what's been happening."

Max was a bit taken aback at the request but decided to tell them as much as possible without letting them know about his and his friends' involvement – which wasn't possible since May had already told them that they were involved. He ended up telling them everything that had happened – except his and Bonnie's relationship since he wasn't ready to divulge that just yet. The three listeners looked grim by the time he finished.

"You should have told us earlier, Max," said Norman finally. "I can't believe so many things have been happening under our noses all this time."

"And what? Risk your lives for something as stupid as that?" snapped Max scornfully. He gave a sigh. "It's not like you know how to deal with aura, or I would have told you."

They were shocked at his derisive tone. "But we can be of some help, don't you think?"

"Like what?"

They racked their brains but couldn't come up with any idea that would be good enough to convince Max. Norman gave up with a sigh. "Alright, but I am staying here; Caroline and May were going to leave anyway."

"That's better," said Max with a sigh. "I suppose your staying here has got something to do with the tournament."

None of them commented as Max left, saying that he had some work to do. Max started walking towards the main reception area of the stadium, deep in thought. He glanced briefly at the clock as he passed through there, noting that it was almost time for the tournament to start. He paused and turned towards the screen, deciding to wait there for others.

That was when he heard the sound of footsteps running towards him. He turned just in time to see Alicia and Heidi waving towards him. He waved back, slightly surprised to see them there. They reached and stopped in front of him as Alicia shoved her Holo Caster in his hand.

Max took it and saw that an article was open on some news website. He didn't even bother to read the headline as the photo right below it gained all his attention. The photo was that of Kyogre, the legendary Hoenn pokémon. Max probably wouldn't have considered the news as anything remotely interesting if it wasn't for the fact that Kyogre seemed out of control in the photo.

There was a video attached as well on the website, so Max played it. It showed Kyogre suddenly appearing on the surface of water near Hoenn and crushing a small boat underneath it. Even in the noisy video, Max could clearly hear the crushing of the boat under Kyogre's weight as the pokémon dived down again.

He turned towards the girls who were waiting for him to look through the video. "What is this about?"

"It is about Kyogre going wild in the sea," replied Alicia curtly.

"We read the article," added Heidi quickly. "Apparently, Kyogre has been losing control recently for no obvious reason. The sudden discovery of that has made many Pokémon Rangers alert; all of them are off on a mission to check on the legendary pokémon and see if they are okay."

"Why all?"

"From what the report says, it seemed like Kyogre had been under someone's control; the people who recorded the video said that when they first saw Kyogre, there was absolutely no expression or movement from the legendary pokémon. It was lying at the water surface lifelessly with absolutely no emotion in its eyes. And then it suddenly started going crazy and started swimming rapidly and erratically, diving and jumping without any reason. That was when they recorded the video."

Something about the way the events had occurred seemed familiar to Max; he felt he already had an idea where this was headed. He nodded at the girls. "Actually, this is interesting. I have a feeling I know what this is all about."

Just then, he felt the familiar auras of Cass and Bonnie heading towards them. He looked up just as they appeared through the main entrance of the stadium. They ran towards them and stopped while Alicia and Heidi gave them an inquiring look. The two girls exchanged glances and then shook their heads.

"Cole was almost dead when we found him," said Bonnie with a shake of her head. "In fact, he _should_ have been dead by now; it's a miracle he's still alive."

"He's at the Pokémon Centre in the intensive care under Norse Joy's eye," added Cass, jerking with her thumb in that direction. "You should go now. He will feel glad to see some familiar faces when he wakes up."

The two girls had gone pale; they quickly nodded and left the stadium, running towards their destination.

Max raised an eyebrow at the remaining two. "What happened really?"

The two girls took turns explaining what had happened after he had left Bonnie alone. Max looked taken aback by the time they finished. "I see what you meant when you said it was a miracle he was still alive."

"Why did you take so long though?" asked Bonnie curiously. "I thought you were going to join me again when you were done telling Alicia and Heidi about what was going on."

"I recalled I wanted to know some more details about Team Rocket and I also wanted to meet my family," replied Max simply. "After that, it was almost time for the tournament to start so I decided to wait here instead. I figured you would be able to deal with whatever might have happened."

Just as Bonnie was about to ask another question, Cass interrupted them by pointing towards the screen. Their opponents were being showed. As soon as the spinning cards stopped and overturned, Cass's eyes widened in shock while a small grim made their way to the other two's faces.

"Looks like you are going to drop out first, Cass," said Max, grinning at her like a madman.

"Don't worry; I know Ace will go easy on you," said Bonnie, patting her on the back lightly.

A smirk slowly made its way to Cass's face. "Not really; I was hoping I would be able to battle Ace sometime, after not seeing him for over a year. I bet he would be surprised to see how much I have improved."

"Oh really?"

The three turned towards the voice immediately. Ace stood there, smirking at Cass. "I _am_ interested in seeing how much _all three_ of you have improved since the last time I saw you; you better not disappoint me."

"Don't worry; we won't."

* * *

"And now the next battle is between Cassandra and Ace!"

Cass and Ace made their way towards the battlefield as soon as their names were announced. Both of them were smirking at each other while Max and Bonnie sat in the audience, excited to see the battle.

"Choose your pokémon," the referee spoke, glancing at the two of them.

"Greninja, let's go," said Cass as she threw her pokéball. Greninja appeared in front of her and looked bored at first – until he saw who his opponent was; then, he smirked.

Ace didn't need to do anything as his Infernape forced open his pokéball himself and materialized in front of his opponent with a smirk on his face, apparently excited at the prospect of fighting against one of the strongest pokémon he knew.

"Battle begin!"

"Water Shuriken!" Cass commanded at once.

Greninja formed a shuriken of water in his hand and got into throwing stance but didn't throw the shuriken; instead, he observed Infernape for some time. That felt strange to the watchers since Greninja, as a species, in general were known for their swift attacks. Seeing one of the species to not throw a shuriken right after forming it felt odd.

After some time, Greninja stood straight up and glanced briefly at Cass who gave a nod. The water-type then raised the slowly spinning shuriken above his head. Suddenly, the size of the shuriken started increasing rapidly until it covered the width of the battlefield. By then, its speed had increased quite a lot as well; the audience easily felt the pressure of the air that was spinning at its edges.

Then, Greninja threw it at his fire-type opponent, who had a rather impressed look on his face.

"Infernape," said Ace simply.

Infernape gave a nod and then raised his right arm above his head with a small flame covering the palm, waiting for the shuriken to approach. As the audience watched with bated breath, the shuriken rapidly covered the distance to the fire-type who was ready. As soon as the first droplet of water touched his fur, the flame on Infernape's hand suddenly intensified and he brought his arm down like a karate chop, hitting the edge of the shuriken.

The chop had immediate effect as the shuriken turned into water and completely splashed the battlefield in it. The flame on Infernape's hand had disappeared but he looked completely unharmed.

Cass smirked. "Now, Greninja!"

Just as she said that, Greninja suddenly appeared to Infernape's left with a purple energy sword in his hands, ready to attack with a Night Slash. Infernape, though taken aback, was quick to defend by forming a visible aura sword in his left hand and blocking the Night Slash. The audience gasped audibly at seeing a fire-type use an aura attack so effectively.

"Not enough yet, Cass," said Ace, smirking at her.

"I know," replied Cass with a smirk of her own. "Hydro Pump at the flame on Infernape's head!"

Greninja acted at once and opened his mouth to release a powerful stream of water at Infernape, who, after exchanging glances with his trainer, reacted just as quickly. He moved aside suddenly, destabilizing Greninja who still was applying force on his purple sword, and then kicked hard under the water-type's chin, forcing him to look up. Because of how quick Infernape had been, Greninja couldn't stop and his Hydro Pump only went up into the air. Realizing at once what had happened, Greninja stopped as soon as he could and turned to look at the fire-type as the water his attack came back down like rain.

"Close Combat," ordered Ace, right after Greninja had turned to look at Infernape.

Infernape proceeded by a kick in the water-type's stomach, forcing him back, and then followed with a punch towards Greninja's face, who, on Cass's command, managed to dodge it just barely. The punch grazed the skin near Greninja's right eye.

Cass, knowing she didn't have much time, ordered her next move as soon as Greninja had dodged Infernape's punch. "Aerial Ace!"

Greninja's arms as well as legs glowed light blue and he punched in Infernape's stomach, sending him flying in the air. Without giving a chance, he jumped above the fire-type, and then kicked in his stomach again, sending him hurtling into the ground below. The ground cracked under the pressure as Infernape hit it.

"Flamethrower!" ordered Ace, not bothering to see if his pokémon was okay.

Infernape was fine though, as he opened his mouth and sent a torrent of flames towards the still-airborne Greninja.

"Hydro Pump!"

Greninja shot a powerful stream of water towards the oncoming flamethrower, hitting it head-on and vaporizing all the water, covering the whole battlefield in it. Cass, though, knew that she didn't have much time until Ace ordered the next attack so she continued with another command.

"Double Team! Follow it with Water Pulse."

Greninja, still surrounded by the vaporized water, created copies of himself all over the battlefield as he sensed Infernape's presence. He felt the fire-type somewhere near where he had fallen earlier as he created blue spheres of energy in each of his hands, larger in size that usual. Subsequently, he threw the energy spheres towards where he felt Infernape was with all of his copies following suit with the action.

All the blue spheres converged near the centre and exploded into a wave of water, further wetting the already wet battlefield. The vapor dissipated as well, revealing a dripping wet Infernape who didn't look bothered in the least. Instead, he had a smirk on his face that was returned by Greninja.

"As expected of Ace," commented Bonnie, having watched the battle so far. "He hasn't let Cass gain the upper hand yet."

"I think Cass can still take him by surprise," said Max, glancing at the two battlers alternately. "She needs to find the right moment to attack."

"I wonder how she will do that though," said Bonnie, glancing at him. "We'll have to see."

As she said that, Cass made a move. Water suddenly appeared around Greninja, slowly spinning around him and picking up speed – making Max and Bonnie realize at once what was happening. The water then rose up and formed a spinning cyclone around Greninja who was glowing behind that torrent of water.

Ace looked a bit surprised at what was happening but he recalled at once that the same had happened during the Kalos League earlier with Ash. He realized that Cass had discovered and mastered that synchronous transformation. A small grin made its way to his face as he exchanged glances with Infernape who looked excited as well.

The torrent of water that was surrounding Greninja suddenly moved towards his back and converted into a large water shuriken on his back. The water-type though transformed resembled Cass now.

"Let's see what you can do with that form now," said Ace as he ordered the next move. "Flare Blitz!"

"Cut," ordered Cass calmly as the Infernape surrounded himself in red-orange flames and approached her transformed Greninja with incredible speed.

Greninja formed a white needle in his hand and held it with both of his hands as Infernape approached him. As soon as he was within his striking range, Greninja swung the white needle down squarely on Infernape's head, sending him crashing into the ground and cracking it. The cracks that formed spread through the battlefield while Greninja stood unflinchingly looking down at the collapsed but conscious Infernape.

Ace smirked. "Good; let's see how long you can survive."

As he said that, Infernape got up, rubbing the back of his head. Shaking his head, he glanced at his opponent while the audience watched enraptured by the battle. He gave a smirk.

"Close Combat, Infernape!"

As soon as the first word left Ace's mouth, Infernape acted with a swift, powerful upper cut to the chin. Greninja wasn't able to dodge and ended up being thrown in the air. Infernape, not wasting another second, jumped and kicked the water-type hard, sending him hurtling into the ground and further cracking the already cracked battlefield.

Greninja was ready this time though as he got up quickly and dodged while Infernape landed where he was lying. Infernape didn't let up however as he quickly turned and used the momentum from landing to launch himself towards the waiting water-type who blocked his next punch.

The two pokémon kept on exchanging punches and kicks; Greninja dodged most of them while blocked the few he couldn't. Infernape let up after some time and somersaulted some distance back. Greninja, having blocked all of his attacks, smirked back at him.

Then, pain suddenly shot through his arms. He flinched and glanced at his upper arms where the skin was slowly turning red. Cass gaped at that while Ace smirked.

"You seriously didn't think that you would be able to block Infernape's attacks without any backlash, did you?" asked Ace, glancing first at the water-type and then at Cass.

"I guess I did," admitted Cass with a sigh. "I should have been more careful."

"It's too late anyway," said Ace. "Flamethrower!"

Infernape took a deep breath and then shot a sharp but extremely hot stream of flames towards Greninja who, on Cass's command, retaliated with a just about strong Hydro Pump. The flames and the water collided in the middle and covered the whole volume of the stadium in hot steam, keeping everyone from seeing the pokémon or the trainers.

In the middle of the following confusion, a bright light blazed through the steam and revealed Infernape who was running towards what could only be assumed as Greninja. Cass, seeing that, commanded Greninja to jump high in the air above the steam.

Greninja conceded and jumped with the help of his springy legs, much higher than the steam that still covered the battlefield. Not even a second had passed after he jumped when the blaze in the steam followed him and Infernape appeared above the steam cloud with bluish-white flames surrounding him, approaching the water-type rapidly.

Cass was taken by surprise even though she somewhat expected the move from Ace. "Greninja, use Aqua Jet!"

Her choice of move made Ace raise an eyebrow but he decided to see where that would take the battle and so didn't speak anything. Infernape, not hearing his trainer comment anything, decided to follow through.

The shuriken at the back of Greninja turned into a torrent of water and surrounded him as he started falling towards the rising Infernape. The two clashed midair as the water surrounding Greninja once again vaporized and covered the two pokémon in a cloud of steam, hiding them from everyone's eyes.

A loud crash followed subsequently while the cloud at the bottom dissipated, revealing Greninja lying on the ground. Infernape appeared from the cloud of steam as well, falling rather slowly much to the spectators' surprise.

"Greninja, let's get serious," called Cass as the water-type glanced towards his airborne opponent. "Water Pulse, full power!"

Greninja's eyes narrowed as he swiftly formed two blue energy balls in both his hands and quickly shot them with insanely high speed towards Infernape who didn't even have time to completely dodge the attack. Both the energy balls hit him squarely and exploded in a wave of water, completely drenching the fire-type and sending him flying in the air.

Infernape, though taken by surprise, had a smirk on his face, much like his trainer. He looked slightly hurt but didn't seem visibly bothered about it.

"Infernape, let's do it," said Ace. He turned towards Cass who was looking at the airborne fire-type. "Let's see how quick Greninja's reflexes are."

As he said that, Infernape raised both of his arms above his head and kept them a bit far from each other. A second later, he formed about ten aura discs – five over each hand and all of them floating one over the other in a straight column. As he fell from the sky, he spun rapidly and threw the discs towards Greninja randomly and quickly.

The suddenness and the randomness of the oncoming attack wouldn't allow Greninja to dodge the attack – Cass knew that. She commanded Greninja to use aura as well to cut through the discs. Greninja conceded at once and formed an aura sword in his hand, ready to slash through the aura discs.

The aura discs approached Greninja swiftly as he readied himself to cut them. But then suddenly, the discs, instead of heading towards the water-type, started spinning speedily around him. It was obvious to the aura users that the edges of the discs were being sharpened further by Infernape who had already landed and was staring at his opponent steadily. Greninja made eye contact with the fire-type for a moment before directing his attention back at the spinning aura discs.

Suddenly, one of the aura discs shot towards Greninja at his back. Greninja sensed it and jumped as the disc harmlessly passed below him. As he jumped, he brought his arms down quickly to hit the disc. Much to his surprise, the disc parted from where his aura sword passed and then restored itself again as it went back into the group of spinning discs.

Cass noticed that and realized at once that there would be no point in hitting just one disc at a time. Infernape, apparently, could easily handle that the way he had done just now and if she continued, Grneinja would only end up losing his stamina. She racked her brains to try and find a way to counteract those attacks as she commanded her pokémon to dodge them.

Infernape took advantage of that moment. Greninja had no choice but to continuously dodge as the onslaught of the aura discs started. Greninja kept on dodging them as much as he could but there was a limit to how much he could do so. Soon enough, his reflexes weren't as quick and he slowed down just a bit – which was enough for the aura discs to scratch him in various places.

Infernape continued with the onslaught while Cass weighed her options. After a while, she decided that it wasn't worth trying to fight those aura discs – it would be better to hit their source directly. "Greninja, Aqua Jet towards Infernape!"

Greninja responded at once even though his cuts had started to bleed and launched himself towards his fire-type opponent as water surrounded him. Because of the water surrounding him and his sudden launch, the aura discs didn't approach him; instead, Infernape's attention was diverted towards him.

The fire-type's eyes narrowed and he exchanged glances with his trainer who gave a nod. Infernape didn't move from his place as Greninja approached him. Instead, the fire on Infernape's head started burning brightly as he activated his ability, Blaze.

Cass noticed the exchange between Ace and his pokémon and realized at once that this was her last attack. They were going to finish the battle now. She glanced up at the sky and closed her eyes with a sigh. _This is it for us, it seems, Greninja,_ she thought to herself as she watched her pokémon close the distance between him and Infernape.

She was quite right: just as Greninja was about to hit Infernape, the fire-type brought up his hand suddenly and stopped the Aqua Jet on the spot. The ground beneath the two pokémon cracked and a crater formed there while the audience gaped at the fire-type.

Not stopping there, Infernape concentrated his aura in his other hand as he balled it into a fist and punched Greninja right through the water surrounding him and sent him crashing into the ground below, knocking him out then and there.

"Greninja is unable to battle. Infernape wins."

Cass silently returned Greninja back and sighed as the silent stadium suddenly burst out into deafening cheers. "You really could have been shitting around with this battle but you just wanted to have some fun; isn't that right, Ace?"

Ace shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe."

Cass shook her head in annoyance but didn't say anything. She bade him goodbye as she left the battlefield.

* * *

Bonnie's Holo Caster rang suddenly, distracting her from the battle that was going on between Cass and Ace. She quickly checked who the caller was – it was Clemont. She felt strange but she left her seat temporarily and away from the noise of the battle to talk to her brother.

"Bonnie, we might – no – we _do_ need your help right now," said Clemont, without wasting his breath. "Bring Max and Cass along if they are there."

He disconnected the call immediately after, leaving Bonnie staring at the device in her hand in confusion. She pocketed it and slowly walked back to her seat where Max noticed her pondering expression.

"What's up?" he asked, getting her attention.

"Clemont called," replied Bonnie with a sigh. "No idea what he wants but it is urgent; he told me to bring you and Cass along."

"Must be really important," commented Max, looking back to the battlefield only to see a large steam cloud there and Greninja over it in the air.

"Let's go back," said Bonnie, getting up. "We can still watch the match there through the monitors – though I doubt Cass will last any longer."

"It seems like that," said Max as he watched Infernape launching aura discs towards Greninja. "But Cass will now have enough time to go around parading everywhere and help solve the case we are on with the police."

By the time the two reached the exit of the stadium, the match had already ended with Cass losing. Cass appeared soon after they reached there and raised an eyebrow at them, asking them why they were standing there. Bonnie explained shortly as they walked out and started towards the Prism Tower a short distance away.

"Something urgent must have come up," commented Cass after listening to her. She changed the topic then. "When are your matches though? I forgot to check after seeing I was against Ace."

"Mine is right after lunch break," said Max. "Bonnie's is the last."

Cass gave a nod as the three reached the Prism Tower. Bonnie led the way ahead and soon, they were greeted by Clemont and Officer Jenny as well, much to their surprise, in Clemont's workshop at the gym.

"What's up?" asked Bonnie curiously.

"Did you see the recent news?" asked Officer Jenny, getting straight to the point.

"About Kyogre?" asked Max as the girls shook their heads in negation. Seeing the officer nod, Max asked, "What about it?"

"Apparently Kyogre is not the only one who's gone berserk," said the officer, sitting in a chair with a hand to her forehead. "Almost every region's legendary pokémon have gone crazy."

"And?" prompted Cass.

"All of our friends have gone back to their respective regions to help the police control those pokémon," said Clemont. "The problem is no one has any idea why they had gone berserk _now_ of all times."

"And you wants us to?" pressed Bonnie.

"Go and check if Xerneas, Yveltal and Zygarde are normal or not," said Officer Jenny, looking at her in the eye. "And try to stop them if you possibly can. It's a dangerous mission, but I believe you should be able to handle it. Most of us here know you and your prowess with aura so we have faith in you that you would be able to deal with this."

"While, I presume, you are going to try and find the cause of their going crazy?" asked Max for confirmation. He got a couple of nods. He looked thoughtfully at the two girls with him and after a bit of non-verbal communication gave a nod. "Cass will go ahead. Bonnie and I have our matches today so we will join her later."

"Alright; thanks," said Officer Jenny as she got up to leave. "I don't really like involving civilians but we don't have a choice right now. There's no way our pokémon would be able to handle legendaries."

The three didn't comment as the officer left. They turned back as Clemont went to the computer screen on one side of the room and sat down on the chair, returning back to whatever he had been doing earlier.

"So Clemont, who's here right now?" asked Bonnie, walking up to her brother to glance at the computer screen.

"What do you mean?" asked Clemont briefly glancing at her.

"I mean which ones of our friends have stayed back," clarified Bonnie, looking back at him.

"As far as I know, only Ash, Delia and Professor Oak," replied Clemont. "All the others decided to get away from here lest they were targets of the kidnappers as well – plus, Officer Jenny specifically tasked us to help the regions where the legendaries have attacked. They trust us since our contribution in the Team Rocket fiasco three years ago."

Bonnie nodded. "Alright then; we are leaving. Cass will go ahead." She turned towards her friend. "Is that okay, Cass?"

Cass gave a shrug. "It's not like I can do anything else."

"Just take care," said Clemont, glancing at her. "And don't get caught again. Please."

Cass was a bit taken aback at the concern he showed and gave an involuntary nod. Clemont nodded back at her and returned back to his work. The three exchanged glances and then left the room. Max, though, paused at the door and glanced back at the blonde inventor.

Clemont must have sensed that for he turned at once towards him. Max raised an eyebrow at him. "What about that Team Rocket information?"

"Not much," replied Clemont, shaking his head. "I am afraid I just haven't had enough time to search as much as I would prefer."

Max nodded and then left him alone. As soon as he walked out of the gym, he was greeted by the curious girls.

"What was _that_ about?" asked Bonnie inquisitively.

"Just what I told you earlier," replied Max succinctly. "Details about Team Rocket."

"Oh."

"Let's go now," he said, walking ahead with the two girls walking slightly behind him. He looked thoughtful so neither of the girls spoke a word. After a while, he spoke up. "Cass, you go and talk to Officer Jenny about the details they have found so far about the legendaries."

"That's _exactly_ what I was going to do anyway," said Cass, rolling her eyes. "You didn't have to mention the obvious."

But it seemed like Max wasn't listening as he continued. "Bonnie, since your match is the last today, you should go and search for Team Rocket's current hideout; I will join you after my match."

"Well, sure," said Bonnie slowly as she glanced at the time. "But after lunch; I am famished."

Max gave a nod as he continued walking quickly without so much as glancing back to see if the girls were keeping up with him. The two exchanged glances with each other.

"Doesn't he seem too preoccupied?" asked Cass, raising an eyebrow at Bonnie.

Bonnie gave a shrug. "Let's ask him when we are eating."

Cass gave a nod and turned back ahead only to see Max waiting impatiently for them. They ran quickly towards him and apologized. He shrugged and started again with a pensive expression on his face.

"What's bothering you?" asked Cass, unable to hide her curiosity.

Max sighed. "I had been thinking about what we have found so far – just to see if we might have missed something. Also, I have a feeling I have an idea about what really is wrong with the legendaries going crazy all of a sudden."

Bonnie glanced at him for a second before the realization dawned on her. "You don't mean…?"

Cass could only glance at the two confusedly as the two nodded at each other grimly. "What?"

"That's why things don't seem to add up," said Bonnie, ignoring Cass's question and aggravating her. "I see why you want me to find their hideout."

"Care to explain?" interjected Cass rudely. "You guys aren't making sense."

"It's got something to do with what happened three years ago," said Bonnie, glancing at her friend and sending her an apologetic look. She then gave her a serious glance. "And if we are right, we will need to stop those legendaries quickly before they lose their control completely."


	16. Destructive Opponents

Chapter 16: Destructive Opponents and Interesting Details

"Alright, I am going ahead," said Cass, waving her hand at her friends as she stood at the exit of the Pokémon Centre. "We'll meet up at the stadium again; and if not there, at Bonnie's place."

Bonnie gave a nod, indicating she was okay with the arrangement, and Cass left. Max got up soon after having finished his lunch and stretched his cramped muscles. "I am leaving for the stadium. See you later, Bonnie."

"You better not be late, Max," said Bonnie warningly. "If you can't come, let me know."

"Sorry about earlier," said Max apologetically. "I had been thinking about my family so I forgot to let you know then."

"Just don't forget this time," said Bonnie shortly as she got up. She gave a pat on his back. "Alright then, I am going ahead; see you soon."

Max nodded with a small smile as Bonnie too left the Pokémon Centre. He gave a sigh and then started off towards the stadium. The tournament was going to resume soon and his match was up then.

* * *

Cass entered the police station and made her way towards Officer Jenny's office. She noticed her sitting at the desk and busy with a phone call. The officer spotted her and gestured her to sit in the chair in front of her while she talked and ended her call.

As soon as she put the receiver down, Cass spoke up. "Can you tell me more about what you have found out so far? – I mean, about the legendaries."

The officer nodded. "From what other police stations have reported, the legendary pokémon suddenly appeared and started using their attacks all over their surroundings. We still haven't found why and how they had gone berserk, but it seems to us they might be in someone's control. Many of the pokémon had been dwelling silently near the cities, so the cities are in grave danger. Most of the police are busy in evacuating the cities so we are short of people right now. Some people have volunteered but we haven't been able to do anything other than evacuating people."

She paused for a moment to take a breath. "Some of my relatives did send their pokémon but the pokémon came back almost immediately; apparently, none of the attacks were working on the legendary pokémon – which was something we had expected. They – my relatives – thought that distracting those legendary pokémon away from the people would help but those pokémon don't even perceive the strongest of their pokémon's attacks."

Cass looked thoughtful. _That probably means none of our pokémon's attacks would work either. Aura attacks might work though. But then what would be their weak points where we should aim our attack?_ She sighed. _Ace probably might know. But where do we find him now? It's not like we have enough time._

"Anything else that you would like to know?" asked Officer Jenny, breaking into her thoughts.

Cass shook her head and got up. "Thanks a lot for that information." She walked up to the door of the office and then paused. Turning back, she asked. "Where are the Kalos legendaries right now?"

"Xerneas is near Laverre City," replied the officer quickly. "Yveltal is at Shalour City; no news about Zygarde which is rather strange."

Cass nodded once and left towards the closest city from her location – Shalour City. As soon as she was out of sight of Lumiose City, she teleported directly to the outskirts of Shalour City. As soon as she appeared, a shockwave hit her and she was thrown into the nearby trees that broke because of the impulsive force.

She got up and looked up to see Yveltal, one of the three Kalos legendaries, flying around crazily and using his attacks randomly, destroying the city in the process. She looked down towards the city and saw that it was in flames; most of the city was destroyed and the city was still being evacuated.

She understood what Officer Jenny meant when she said she was short of people. The residents were in absolute panic and weren't listening to any order that the police were shouting; in fact, many people were simply trampling over the officers, not caring even a bit that those were the only people who could help them right now.

While that pissed Cass off, she knew that wasn't her priority right now. She glanced up at the dark-type pokémon, just in time to see a blue glow hitting it and actually getting its attention, contrary to what Officer Jenny had told her. She decided to fly over there to see what was happening.

As soon as she was in the air, she noticed a trainer with a Mega Lucario in front of her, both of them looking at the flying legendary in frustration. Beside the two stood another Mega Lucario and an old man, outwardly calm. Cass felt that he was just as frustrated though. She quickly flew over there and landed in front of them suddenly, getting their attention. She recognized the two at once.

"Hey Korrina," she greeted the current gym leader.

It took her a bit of time but Korrina recognized her as well. "You must be Cassandra, right? I remember getting beaten by you rather quickly."

Just then, Yveltal shot a violet beam of energy towards the outskirts of the Shalour City, which hit the buildings there rather violently and made the earth shake beneath their feet. Cass turned towards the two trainers at once, knowing that they could talk later.

"We have to knock it out," she said, getting incredulous looks from the two.

"And how are we supposed to do that?" asked Korrina. "We are barely able to hold its attention to us; it would have completely obliterated everyone by now."

"Well, that's the only way I know," commented Cass, recalling what Max and Bonnie had told her about the incident three years ago. "He should be pretty much okay after he wakes up."

"How do you know that for sure?" asked Gurkinn.

"My friends, Max and Bonnie told me," replied Cass, much to their surprise.

"I recall getting beaten just as easily against those two," said Korrina. "It was difficult to get over those losses."

Cass gave a small smile and then shook her head. "Let's first focus on dealing with that," she said, pointing at the flying pokémon overhead. "If it leaves, we might not be able to trace it all that easily – although I suppose it would be easy with the destruction in its wake."

Cass briefly glanced at the two Lucarios, noting all the damage they had. She then glanced at their trainers. "Can you use aura?"

"Well, I just learnt how to control it – if that counts," said Gurkinn, looking at her in the eye. "Korrina still hasn't unlocked it."

"That's no good then," muttered Cass to herself as she glanced back up where it seemed like Yveltal was ready to leave the city.

As soon as Yveltal faced away from them towards the outskirts of the city where the residents of the city were still being evacuated, Cass acted. With a swift motion of her hand, she formed a rather concentrated aura sphere and sent it flying towards the dark-type legendary, hitting him squarely on his face and getting his attention immediately.

Yveltal retaliated immediately by forming an orb of purple energy – whose power they could feel easily raising the hairs on the back of their necks – and fired it towards Cass. Cass pounced on the four beside her and teleported some distance away. That didn't help though. As soon as the purple orb hit where they had been standing, it went off in a massive explosion that sent the five away flying into the buildings beyond.

Cass got up rather quickly, but both Gurkinn and Korrina were hurt badly. Gurkinn's spine was broken in pieces while Korrina had broken some ribs on her left side as well as her left arm. The Lucarios looked fine but they weren't in the best condition to battle – plus, they were distracted due to their trainers' injuries. Both of them reverted back to their normal forms and started helping their trainers.

"Don't be so fucking idiotic!" shouted Cass in frustration. "This isn't the right time to help them."

The four looked at her, completely shocked while Cass looked up towards Yveltal who was charging up another attack towards them. Cass sighed as she glanced at the four in front of her and then let her Greninja out. Greninja took one glance around and then nodded at once at his trainer.

"Distract Yveltal until I teleport back," she instructed as she went near the injured trainers and pokémon. "I will be back soon. Try to knock it out until then."

As soon as she was done instructing, she took hold of the injured trainers and teleported directly to the outskirts where the crowd and panic had reduced considerably. Some people as well as most of the police were standing there still gaping at the legendary pokémon. Cass let them go and was about to teleport back when Korrina caught her hand.

"You seriously don't mean that, do you?" she asked disbelievingly.

"I don't have a choice," said Cass. "Besides, I trust Greninja. All I need to do is find a weak point in Yveltal's body and we should be able to knock him out."

"Are you serious?" asked Gurkinn in disbelief. Cass simply snorted and teleported back, leaving the two gaping at each other.

Greninja glanced at her as soon as she appeared beside him. She looked at him briefly and said, "We have got to find its weak point – by any means necessary. Until then, try contacting Ace or Infernape; they should have an idea about it."

Greninja nodded and sent a Water Shuriken as he transformed, towards the legendary pokémon, who took it head-on without any repercussions. Instead, it retaliated immediately with its signature Oblivion Wing, which both Cass and Greninja dodged.

Cass jumped high and then quickly flew near Yveltal, who noticed her. Before it could use an attack on her, Greninja distracted it with a powerful water sphere to its face. Successfully distracted, Cass took advantage of the situation and landed on its back.

She quickly started checking its body to see where it would be the easiest to attack but unfortunately, its skin was really hard. Unless there was a particularly thin part of the skin somewhere which would distract it and keep it from rampaging, there was no way Cass would be able to hurt the legendary enough to be able to knock him out.

She clicked her tongue in annoyance and let Greninja know about that. The two unanimously decided to attack at the back of Yveltal's head – which, in general, was the weakest point of many pokémon. But that was easier said than done. Yveltal wasn't staying steady for even a second so it wasn't possible for Cass to land directly on its head and to attack it; she would have to make do with where she stood.

Cass decided to test the waters at first. She formed a regular aura sphere and fired it at the target. It hit squarely but there was absolutely no visible damage. Seeing that, Cass formed a larger aura sphere with about the regular aura density and fired it. Again, no damage – plus, it seemed like the force from the attack had spread over the larger area, effectively lessening the damage. During the whole time, it didn't seem like Yveltal had noticed either; it was still distracted due to Greninja.

Cass noticed it and decided to use more power. She formed a regular-sized but incredibly condensed aura sphere and then, fired that on the back of the head. The aura sphere hit and left a large gash on Yveltal's skin. It was, by no means, as deep as it would probably be if used on a regular pokémon but it certainly was strong enough to get the legendary pokémon to notice the pain.

Yveltal turned suddenly and started flying higher. The suddenness of its motion took Cass by surprise and she couldn't hold on to the pokémon; instead, she started falling. She then used her psychic powers to slow herself down and started hovering as she followed Yveltal's flight overhead.

"Greninja," she said as she watched the dark-type firing another beam into the city. "If we aren't able to hit it quickly, we'll have to damage its wings to keep it from flying towards another city and damaging the forests on the way."

Greninja gave a nod as he threw another aura-coated water shuriken at the legendary pokémon, who dodged it and then retaliated with a purple beam that the two dodged in reaction. Yveltal, then, ignored them completely and started flying out of the city.

 _Shit_ , thought Cass as she and Greninja started flying after it. _I guess we should have clipped those wings first – except that would probably have been against the law._

Much to her annoyance, Yveltal kept on gaining speed while the two following it could only go so fast. Instead, Cass returned Greninja and then teleported to just in front of Yveltal. The legendary pokémon noticed her sudden appearance and roared as he formed a purple energy ball in front of his mouth.

Cass dodged it as soon as the berserk pokémon fired it. The next moment, it passed under her and Cass managed to get a grip on its flapping tail. The sudden force she felt immediately almost dislocated her shoulder, but she managed to keep it from happening.

 _I severely underestimated its speed,_ she thought to herself as she could barely open her eyes against the wind beating her body. _I can't focus properly on hitting it like this. Should I try or wait?_

She decided to give it a try. Not much could go wrong anyway, she reckoned. She formed a larger and even more concentrated aura sphere than earlier and waited until she could aim directly at Yveltal's head. Then, she fired it.

The aura sphere hit exactly where she had hit the pokémon earlier, and this time, managed to leave a bleeding wound there. Yveltal felt the pain suddenly and screeched loudly as he suddenly increased his speed further, making Cass regret her decision.

Seeing that she would only make this more difficult for herself, she decided to not hit it until it had slowed down just about enough for her to launch a quick but strong attack – either to the same wound or to the wings to prevent it from flying. Cass figured crippling its wings would be a better idea since that would prevent it from moving any further.

In the meantime, she tried to contact Ace telepathically. She couldn't seem to find him though, and after a while, gave up. Yveltal had slowed down slightly by then, so she took advantage. She pulled herself up on Yveltal's back and crawled up on her stomach until she was right at the base of its neck.

Once she felt she was at the right place, she paused and let go of her left hand to form an aura hammer – a small one at first but with concentrated aura. She would have preferred to make a sword but that might have permanently crippled Yveltal – which wasn't something she wanted.

She focused on creating the hammer, and once she felt that she had used sufficient amount of aura, she started increasing its size – just large enough to hit every bone in the wing. The wind made it difficult for her to stand so she simply turned around and laid on her back, waiting to strike at the right moment as she stared at the up and down motion of its wings.

As soon as she got a chance, she struck. Her hammer made contact with Yveltal's left wing as it was extending upwards. The force took the pokémon completely by surprise as audible cracks filled the air around them. Then, unable to keep flying, Yveltal plummeted down while Cass hovered in the air, watching it fall.

 _I guess one wing should be enough,_ she thought to herself as she too let herself fall. She readied her aura hammer, reducing the density of aura as she fell through the air. _One hit to its head should be enough to knock it out._

As soon as she was within striking distance, she used her full power and the momentum from the fall, and swung the hammer rapidly, cutting through the air. The hammer hit Yveltal's head head-on and knocked him out on the spot. Cass stood panting as she stared at the collapsed pokémon.

 _No wonder they are called legendary pokémon,_ she thought, surveying the damage. _Even after using my full power while swinging the hammer, I couldn't crack the skull. I thought this might at least leave a little crack but…; I wonder what would have happened if I had concentrated my entire aura in the hammer._

She simply sat down as the hammer disappeared, and gave a sigh. Then, she glanced up at the wounds she had given the legendary pokémon earlier; they were still bleeding.

 _Seems like I still have got some work to do,_ she thought as she got up and started to heal the wound.

* * *

"How in the world are we supposed to stop them?" asked Misty as she watched the destruction happening in front of her. A stray lightning bolt suddenly appeared and zapped through the forest near her, outright vaporizing the trees in its direct path and setting ablaze the trees around.

"I wish I could help you there, Misty," came Brock's voice from the Holo Caster she had in her hand. "But Moltres is damaging Cerulean City. I got in touch with your sisters but they haven't been much help."

Misty clicked her tongue in annoyance. "What do you think we can do? Officer Jenny expressly told us to _at least_ knock them out. This is the same as three years ago when Mewtwo had gone berserk."

"I recall that," said Brock, as a torrent of fire lit up behind him, making him look like some kind of god with a halo around him. "But back then, we had help. And Mewtwo had actually been able to hear us and get distracted. This time, these legendaries aren't even listening to us and our attacks aren't distracting them in any way either."

"Brock," said Misty suddenly. "I will head to Cerulean City; tell my sisters. Zapdos seems to be heading to Vermillion City. If you possibly could, get it to Pewter City. The rock-type pokémon at your gym might be able to handle it."

"That seems like a good idea," agreed Brock. "What about Articuno though? I heard it was destroying Saffron City the last I heard."

"I don't know," commented Misty as she started running in the direction of her home city. "I am going to trust Officer Jenny to have found a way to deal with that."

"Alright then, I will head to Vermillion City," said Brock before he disconnected the call.

Misty pocketed the Holo Caster and sped up. Swimming everyday at the gym had helped her keep her body fit so she was able to keep up the pace for quite long – about two hours before she saw the familiar face of Brock. She slowed down as did Brock and the two stopped at the side of the road.

"I got in touch with Officer Jenny on my way," said Brock, panting. "Apparently, Lance is on his way to deal with Articuno."

Misty looked slightly surprised. "Wasn't everyone going to be busy at the league?"

"Apparently, word got out that all the legendary pokémon were behaving strangely," replied Brock grimly. "The stadium is in a panic and people are looking for shelter since the city isn't safe at all."

"Then that means…" said Misty slowly, giving him a meaningful glance.

He gave a nod. "The city is in panic. People aren't even stopping to care about anyone else but themselves. It'd be best if you run around the city; a longer route, but a quicker one."

Misty gave a nod. "Alright then. Take care."

The two resumed their sprints to their destinations. A couple of hours later, the two stood at their respective destinations, panting loudly.

Misty then ran the rest of the way to her gym, passing burnt houses, broken buildings, crying people and dead bodies. The scene made her want to puke but she held on as she ran to the gym. She soon saw her gym; it looked safe for the time being but it seemed like the pokémon inside were panicking, judging from the noises.

She entered and was greeted at once by three hysterical sisters, gripped with terror as tears made their way down their once calm and composed faces.

"Oh Misty! Thank goodness you're here!"

"Misty, please help us calm these pokémon down!"

"What are we supposed to do, Misty? That pokémon won't stop destroying the city."

"Calm the fuck down first!" shouted Misty over their frenzied cries. Her sudden yell silenced them into shock and they started rubbing their tears away.

Misty didn't say a word and headed off to calm down all the pokémon in the gym. It took a bit of time but she managed to pull it off and had soon managed to motivate all the water-type pokémon she owned to use their attacks against the rampaging Moltres and try to knock it out. It was a long shot but she felt that it was worth giving a try.

She had a Staryu, a Starmie, couple of Dewgongs, a Corsola, a Gyarados, three Goldeens, a Vaporeon, a Milotic, a Polywrath, an Azumarill and Brock's Swampert that her sisters mentioned he had left on purpose. With the help of the three, Misty brought all the pokémon outside the gym – just as Moltres fired a large and powerful flamethrower near them, vaporizing a house a few blocks away from them and smoldering the surrounding buildings.

"Hydro Pump!" shouted Misty as one of the blazing buildings fell down with a deafening crash.

The water-types followed her order and fired torrents of water towards the legendary fire-type that was still flying in the air, randomly using flamethrowers and scorching the city in a sea of fire. The torrents of water merged together as they hit the fire-type on its face and the water vaporized instantly while the flame on its head cooled down. The water that didn't evaporate flowed down its back and onto its wings and its fiery tail, cooling down its body temperature further.

Misty, for a moment, thought she had managed to calm down the bird since it stopped flying around and started hovering above, trying to rid its fur of the water. Her joy was short-lived though, as Moltres suddenly screeched and started glowing red. The already sweltering surroundings suddenly got hotter and hotter until the water-types couldn't bear it and escaped to the slightly cooler gym and jumped into the water.

Misty looked on fearfully at the legendary bird as the water covering it evaporated completely and its flames became brighter and brighter. Then suddenly, red-orange flames appeared and surrounded its body as it started hovering and spinning in the air above the Cerulean Gym. The flames soon changed their color to bluish-white as Moltres sped up.

 _Is it using Flame Charge?_ Misty thought. _If that's the case, where is it going to aim?_

As she stared at the fire-type, it kept on gaining speed, going faster and faster until it was just a blue blur in the sky. And then, it suddenly dived down – right towards the gym.

Misty froze in terror as Moltres closed the distance to her, vaporizing and smoldering anything and everything in its way. She wanted her feet to move but couldn't and stayed there, staring at her impending doom. She closed her eyes as the heat and light became even more unbearable. Her life started passing before her eyes as she waited for the hot flames to hit and vaporize her.

Except, that didn't happen.

Instead of the flames hitting her, a huge explosion happened right in front of her and the shockwave sent her flying towards the gym. The impact forced her through the sturdy gym doors, breaking them and pushing her into the pool of water inside, knocking her out right then and there.

Her water pokémon kept her from drowning; they lifted her out of the pool and placed her gently on the edge, looking at her worriedly and hoping for her to be okay. The pokémon, then, heard somebody crack his knuckles. They turned to the source at once and squinted at the shadow that was hiding behind the smoke left from the explosion earlier.

A red flame shined through the smoke over the shadow as it approached and the person – or pokémon, in this case – materialized from the smoke. It was an Infernape. None of the pokémon knew him but he had a scowl on his face, making them wary of him.

The Infernape quietly walked towards Misty, making the pokémon even more cautious about his intentions. Some of them glared at him as he approached, warning him to stay away. But either he didn't notice or he ignored. Seeing him not listening to them, they stood in front of Misty, protective of her.

Infernape, in response, gave such an icy glare that their protective stance faltered and reluctantly, they parted, letting him near their trainer. Infernape went up to Misty and observed her for a while. Then, he sat down and placed his hands on her as they started glowing blue. The water-types still wanted to keep him from doing anything but his frosty glare kept them from making a move.

A few tense minutes passed, after which Misty twitched and opened her eyes. She looked tired and battered, but otherwise okay and certainly uninjured. The first thing she saw on getting up was Infernape looking down on her. The unfamiliar face took her aback and she slid back a bit to get a good view of her surroundings. The presence of her pokémon calmed her down and once they told her what had happened, she thanked Infernape.

Infernape glared icily at her. "You are a pathetic excuse of a trainer," he said rather callously – in the human language.

For a moment, Misty gaped at him as the words seeped in her mind. And then she felt angry. "What makes you think I am pathetic?"

"Your pokémon should have been strong enough to _at least_ be able to keep a legendary pokémon under control – especially one over which you have a type advantage," stated the fire-type pokémon as he walked away.

"Type advantage isn't everything!" shouted the water-type trainer in frustration.

"Well, it _is_ everything when dealing with a legendary pokémon," snapped Infernape. "You can't really expect to even disable a pokémon _that_ strong without having a little advantage. I think you already saw what happened right now, didn't you?"

Misty didn't comment since she didn't have an answer to the question. Infernape, satisfied with her silence, disappeared in a flash of light, taking her by slight surprise. She walked up to the spot where the fire-type stood last but there was not even the slightest hint of him being there earlier.

The smoke from the earlier explosion had already dissipated so she had a clear view of outside. And what she saw made her gasp in shock.

Moltres lay on the ground, unmoving, with a huge blue-black bump on his forehead and a broken beak. She figured that the Infernape might have been Ace's, putting two and two together, and decided to start nursing him first. In the meantime, she sent her water-types outside to help put the fire out and one of them to get Nurse Joy, who was still in the Pokémon Centre the last she had heard of her.

* * *

Brock looked towards the city from the top of a tree and watched a large crowd of people running out from the city frantically. Misty had told him that Zapdos was on its way to Vermillion City and that he had less time to reach there. It was obvious to him that he was late though since he could already see stray thunderbolts hitting the various buildings in the city and setting them ablaze.

Seeing the fire, he wished he hadn't left his Swampert back at the Cerulean City but it was too late to do anything about that. Instead, he started observing Zapdos and his haphazard movements. After observing for a while, he released his Steelix. The most notable fact of his Steelix was the presence of a mega stone attached to the strap around his neck. Brock had his key stone hanging around his neck.

Steelix observed the rampaging Zapdos and then turned towards his trainer for his order. Brock glanced at him for a second and then released Croagunk who stared at him expressionlessly. "Alright, you two," he said, alerting them about the fact that they were about to move. "Our goal is to knock Zapdos out as quickly as possible. To avoid its electric attacks, Steelix, I want you to use Dig and stay underground. Croagunk, use whichever poison-type attacks you can. I will not be able to command you all the time, so make sure to give it your all."

He gave a small smile and Steelix smiled back while Croagunk stayed stoic. Brock gave a nod and Croagunk jumped on Steelix as he used Dig and disappeared underground. As soon as they disappeared, Brock too climbed down from the tree and started running the remaining distance towards the city.

Many people had gotten burnt during the attack and people were still pouring out of the city, so Brock got to work with whatever he had on hand after making sure to know that other doctors were dealing with patients on the other exits of the city.

In the meantime, Steelix had been digging a tunnel underground. After some time, the two pokémon started feeling the heat of the blazing buildings above the ground and so Steelix found a nearby spot – cooler than its surroundings – and dug upwards until he cracked the surface and saw Zapdos above flying and using attacks randomly.

Croagunk spoke up and told Steelix to dig holes all over the city so that they had quick access to any location where the electric-type legendary bird would fly. As he said that in his pokémon language, he jumped off the steel-type and stood on the hot road that was slowly starting to melt due to the heat. The two pokémon stared at each other intensely after which, Steelix left the poison-type there reluctantly and disappeared underground to follow through the plan.

As soon as he disappeared, Croagunk looked up towards Zapdos. A couple of buildings around him fell with a loud crash attracting the attention of the flying electric-type who fired off a Thunder attack in his direction. Croagunk acted by dodging it and he slowly started walking towards one of the buildings that hadn't caught fire yet.

A few minutes later, he appeared on the rooftop and looked up towards the Zapdos who was flying away from him. A muffled explosion sounded somewhere to his right and Croagunk saw Steelix appearing momentarily over the buildings before disappearing down again. At the same time, Zapdos screeched and Croagunk turned to see it flying towards him. He didn't react; he simply waited as the electric-type readied another attack.

Then as soon as Zapdos was within range, Croagunk used Venoshock and fired a purple, poisonous liquid at it. The liquid drenched Zapdos's wings and back, keeping him from flying freely. While the liquid wasn't able to poison it, it burnt the electric-type's skin and melted through it, causing extreme anguish to the pokémon.

Feeling the sudden burn, Zapdos gave another screech and the attack it had readied launched randomly, hitting the building beside the one Croagunk was on and setting it ablaze. Croagunk felt the sudden heat and walked a few steps away as he looked at the electric-type legendary who was trying to fly freely but could not. He then aimed at it and fired another Venoshock.

Zapdos couldn't dodge it as it landed on its neck and burnt it severely since its skin was rather thin there. The burn made Zapdos even wilder and it started flying around erratically, using even more and powerful attacks and wrecking havoc in the already ruined city. Croagunk calmly watched its arbitrary flight and then made his way down to the hole where Steelix had left him.

He called the steel-type in his pokémon voice and waited for him to appear as another building a few blocks away exploded, sending rubble flying towards him. Before the wreckage could reach him though, Steelix appeared at the hole and Croagunk at once jumped on his head. As the two disappeared underground, Croagunk told him about his plan.

Steelix understood his plan and agreed with a grunt. He quickly made his way to the hole closest to Zapdos through the underground network he had just created and sped up as soon as he saw the electric-type, flying slowly overhead. He speedily shot out with his tail glowing clear white and turned around midair, slamming the glowing, iron-hard tail into Zapdos.

In the meantime, Croagunk, who had been sitting on Steelix's head, jumped up as soon as Steelix started to turn and aimed at the burnt area of Zapdos's neck as both of his hands glowed purple. As soon as Steelix's Iron Tail slammed into it and sent it flying towards him, he used Poison Jab and hit Zapdos hard, right at its neck injury, drawing out blood from it. The pain that shot out because of the attack took Zapdos aback and it used an extremely powerful Thunder. The attack was so powerful that not only it knocked out both Croagunk and Steelix and burnt them, but also was so bright that the whole sky glowed white due to its brightness, preventing anyone from seeing anything.

* * *

Brock, closing his eyes and covering them with his arm, clicked his tongue in frustration as the whole surroundings glowed white and blinded him. He was worried about Croagunk and Steelix. As soon as the blinding glow faded, he ran towards where he had first seen it in spite of the warning yells of many people.

It took him some time to get there was quite a lot of debris covered the roads and many buildings were on the verge of falling. He reached the place only to see a severely burned Croagunk and Steelix. Zapdos was nowhere to be seen but Brock could hear its screeches clearly, even through the noise of falling debris.

He quickly returned his pokémon, thanking them and then released his Forretress. Forretress looked at the destruction all around and quickly glanced back at his trainer questioningly.

"Search for Zapdos but try and be out of its sight," directed Brock quickly; he was in a hurry to heal his pokémon. "Survey its damage and if you find a relatively weak spot, be quick to attack and hide. Continue to do so until Zapdos gets knocked out due to the damage. Be careful though; it is a legendary pokémon so it won't be easy to damage it."

Forretress nodded and then quickly floated away as another screech filled the atmosphere, followed by an explosion. Brock noticed him disappear into the burning sky and he quickly turned tail and ran towards the outskirts of the city where he would be able to heal his pokémon.

Many of the people were relieved to see him back safe and sound when he reached there. They had been worried why he had suddenly run inside the burning city so were continuously keeping an eye to the entrance, waiting for him to appear.

As soon as Brock reached outside, another screech filled the atmosphere, preceded by a smalled explosion. Brock looked up and saw something falling down. It was hard to see since the smoke from the fire burning in the city filled the air but as soon as it cleared a little bit, Brock was able to see what was falling.

It was Forretress. Brock was quick to take out his pokéball and return him while Zapdos suddenly appeared over them, screaming loudly. The electric-type seemed really pissed off as it fired another thunder – this time, directed at them.

 _Shit,_ thought Brock as he braced himself for the shock. _Am I going to die here?_

He waited for the inevitable shock that would kill him.

But nothing happened as seconds passed.

He looked up and was slightly surprised to see a bluish tinge to the smoky sky. Zapdos seemed to get even more irritated at the presence of the shield and shot another attack of electricity towards it. The next moment, the electric attack hit the blue shield and was immediately absorbed, much to everyone's shock.

Brock suddenly felt something and looked in the direction away from the city to see a lone figure, walking towards them calmly. As soon as the person was close enough to be visible, Brock was flabbergasted. _Ace?!_

Ace walked up to them as they all stared at him with mixed feelings of relief, confusion, disbelief and tension. He glanced at Brock icily for a second and then turned towards Zapdos who was readying another attack, apparently blinded by rage.

Ace bent down a bit and then jumped suddenly, leaving cracks in the ground. The force sent him to Zapdos's height while everyone gaped at him. As soon as he reached near Zapdos, he formed an aura sphere and pushed it down through Zapdos's open beak just as it screeched and inside its body. The moment the aura sphere went down into its stomach, Ace snapped his fingers.

Everyone watched horrified as Zapdos bloated up to almost twice its size, looking ready to burst. It lasted for only a moment. Blood, then, started oozing out of its beak as the pokémon deflated and plummeted down, unconscious because of the attack. Ace looked at the plunging figure of the unconscious pokémon coldly and then he quickly descended down as the pokémon hit the ground and sent a small shockwave through it.

Ace quietly walked up to Brock who looked at him warily. He pointed towards the comatose form of Zapdos and said, "Heal him. He should be fine afterwards."

As soon as he said that, there was a bright flash of light and he disappeared.

* * *

"Lance, try attacking sneakily!"

"I am trying! But that damn pokémon is moving around too much for me to land a successful hit."

Lance looked at the storming Articuno as it blasted an insanely strong Blizzard and froze the whole visible forest in a foot thick snow. By the time Lance had reached Saffron City, the ice-type had already submerged the city in at least three feet of snow.

"Dragon Rush, Dragonite!" The Kanto Champion commanded.

Dragonite was surrounded by a light blue aura and then he started flying towards the Articuno at his maximum speed. But Articuno was even faster, and easily dodged the attack. The legendary pokémon followed with a strong Ice Beam and froze up the Dragonite in ice.

One of the G-men colleagues of Lance quickly melted the ice and freed Dragonite with his Charizard's Flamethrower. Dragonite looked slightly stiff due to the sudden change in temperature but otherwise unharmed.

Lance gritted his teeth in frustration. It was almost impossible to deal with the legendary bird, especially when it was going berserk. He still hadn't been able to figure out an effective way to deal with it. There weren't many ways for them to be able to bring it under control – not until they found out why it had gone berserk in the first place.

Articuno, in the meanwhile, seemed to get even more riled up due to the presence of the G-men; it attacked with Hurricane. It was, by no means, a normal one. Many pokémon couldn't bear it and ended up being blown in the air with the wind. Even the trainers themselves couldn't stay on the ground and were pulled up in the air. They quickly returned their pokémon as trees got uprooted in the hurricane and were blown around chaotically. Many of them ended up getting hit by them, including Lance.

Articuno stopped after some time, but not before having rendered many of the G-men useless against itself. And that included Lance, who had a broken arm with a bloody bone sticking out of the elbow, and many, many small and large wounds thanks to the assortment of things that were being blown around in the hurricane along with them and their pokémon.

Lance couldn't even move to release his Dragonite as he helplessly looked on at the destruction caused by the rioting Articuno. The legendary pokémon attacked with another blizzard and buried them all alive underneath a thick sheet of snow. The coldness numbed the pain making Lance feel slightly relieved even though he knew he wasn't out of danger at all. He still couldn't move and the extreme frostiness of the snow put him at high risk of hypothermia.

He felt the ground shake underneath and a muffled explosion was heard, making him all the more frantic to dig his way out of the powdered snow. The only problem was that he couldn't move even a single centimeter. As he contemplated about what to do, he suddenly felt the chilliness reducing and the snow above him melting rapidly. A few seconds later, all the snow had disappeared, revealing to him a sight that astounded him to no end.

Articuno lay lifelessly, with third-degree burns, on the ground that was wet from the melted snow. All his G-men, although injured – some of them rather seriously – looked okay and it didn't seem like anyone had died. Many of them were dazed and disoriented.

Lance started to get up to go near one of them to talk when pain shot through his broken arm. His blood that had been frozen due to the cold earlier had started liquefying and his wound had started to bleed again. As soon as he noticed it, he tore off his shirt with his one painful but moveable hand and made it into a temporary tourniquet although he already knew it wasn't going to be helpful.

As he tied a knot, he started feeling queasy due to the heavy blood loss. He glanced around and saw Nurse Joy just arriving on the scene. He tried to call to her but no voice came out. His vision blurred and soon everything disappeared in the darkness.

* * *

"May, don't go out!"

"I can't just sit around and see Rayquaza destroying our home, mom!" came the reply as May quickly buckled the belt around her waist and quickly put in all her pokéballs. "If I can at least make him follow me out of the city, most of the people should be safe."

"What about you then?" asked Caroline worriedly.

"Don't worry; I have got it all figured out," replied May quickly as she opened the door. "See ya, mom!"

"But May…" By then, May was already out of earshot.

She ran through the milling crowd that was rushing frantically towards the outskirts of the city and started towards the direction of the flying dragon-type. She glanced up briefly and saw it flying towards the downtown area, and she followed him – though rather slowly because of the frenzied crowd.

Soon enough, she came across an alleyway and she crawled her way slowly towards it. There was no one in the passage so she was able to quickly run through it towards the downtown. She glanced up once again only to see Rayquaza's body being surrounded in green aura and it diving down towards the many buildings that still stood in the area.

 _It hasn't mega evolved yet,_ thought May as Rayquaza collided roughly with the buildings and destroyed them. _I might have a chance at getting his attention._

She quickly made her way through the empty streets as some buildings fell, shaking the ground. She watched Rayquaza go up in the sky again as she reached the downtown – if that's what it could be called now. It looked like all the buildings there were razed; there was nothing left except huge piles of rubble, covering the street.

Seeing the destruction that Rayquaza had already caused, May felt incredibly incensed. _There's no way I can let it destroy Petalburg any further._

Her arm quickly made its way to her pokéballs and she released her Blaziken. Next, her hand made its way towards the key stone she had in her pocket. "Blaziken, mega evolve!"

Blaziken mega evolved as a glowing, bright orange sphere formed inside Rayquaza's mouth. May looked up towards the legendary pokémon determinedly. "Blaziken, Flare Blitz!"

Blaziken's body got surrounded in light blue glow and orange streaks of fire appeared around it as it jumped up towards the airborne Rayquaza, who released the orange sphere in its mouth just as Blaziken collided with it forcefully. The collision made Rayquaza miss the attack and the sphere, instead of going straight up higher in the sky, ended up crashing into one of the taller skyscrapers a few blocks away, exploding on contact.

"Blaze Kick and follow it with Brick Break!" May continued with her commands quickly to prevent Rayquaza from attacking as the sphere that had exploded after touching the skyscraper broke up into several smaller but just as powerful spheres that spread across the city, hitting various buildings and tearing down the nearby areas completely.

Blaziken followed May's orders as Rayquaza recoiled away due to the earlier Flare Blitz. His foot blazed in flames as he hit the dragon-type on its head, quickly followed by another hit on the same spot with his glowing hand.

"Sky Uppercut, Blaziken!" May ordered immediately as soon as Blaziken had used Brick Break. The fire-type's fists glowed blue and it immediately aimed a punch at the same spot that he had hit earlier. He missed though and Rayquaza, who had moved away to dodge it, screeched wildly, forming a dark purple – almost black – sphere in his mouth.

Blaziken, knowing that it was going to use Hyper Beam, immediately reacted by using his second fist and hitting Rayquaza under its mouth as he started falling, redirecting the beam in the sky just as it fired. The Hyper Beam harmlessly went into the sky as Blaziken landed on the ground while Rayquaza gave another surreal scream as it looked around, apparently trying to find Blaziken.

"How do we knock it out, Blaziken?" asked May indecisively, glancing briefly at her pokémon and then back at their opponent. "It doesn't seem like it would be defeated at all. Did you manage to do any significant damage?"

Blaziken shook his head. Even in his mega evolved form, it was almost impossible to damage Rayquaza, let alone defeating it. He had only managed to scratch Rayquaza slightly; nothing else.

"Get its attention with Flame Thrower!" commanded May, determined to not give up.

Blaziken conceded and fired a huge torrent of flames towards the dragon-type, successfully getting its attention. Rayquaza responded with Dragon Ascent and dived rapidly towards Blaziken.

 _Shit,_ May thought as she returned Blaziken. _I should have thought about a good defence first. But I now have his attention, so I should use it to my advantage._

As she started running away, she released Altaria; she had caught her when she had travelled through Hoenn again to participate in the Grand Festival. She jumped on the flying-type as soon as she materialized.

"Altaria, quick," she commanded. "Fly outside the city as fast as you can."

Altaria acted at once by using Aerial Ace and speeding up rapidly. The flying-type was fast enough to at least have a lead on Rayquaza but she wasn't fast enough to outpace it. May held on to Altaria and glanced back only to see Rayquaza glowing brightly.

 _Is it mega evolving?_ She thought to herself. _It will be hard to deal with it if that's the case. I still haven't found an Altarianite._

Luckily for her, Altaria was able to get away from city in time before Rayquaza could catch up. She asked Altaria to slow down and asked her to land among the trees in the forest. Rayquaza, seeing them disappear, reacted with a Hyper Beam in their direction. Seeing that, May commanded Altaria to use Dragon Pulse against it.

The move was hopeless, she knew, but there wasn't enough time for Altaria to dodge it and if she returned her, chances were that she would die as well. She quickly ran for the bushes and hid behind them with Altaria's pokéball in her hand.

Altaria followed her order and fired a coloured, dragon-shaped beam towards the oncoming Hyper Beam. She didn't stand a chance though. The Hyper Beam ruthlessly cut right through Altaria's Dragon Pulse and hit the humming pokémon, without giving May a chance to recall her.

The only thing May remembered after that was her being thrown away due to the shockwave as Altaria disappeared into the bright light of the exploding Hyper Beam. Then, everything was wrapped up in darkness.

* * *

"Metagross, use Meteor Mash on Groudon!"

Metagross's body glowed blue as he tucked in his arms and started spinning rapidly clockwise, aiming at Groudon. It then charged at the ground-type with full speed, hitting it squarely; the shiny mega evolved pokémon, then, quickly flew back outside the range of Groudon just as a series of incandescent sharp stones coated with lava appeared in its direction.

Both Groudon and Kyogre were in there primal forms and both were immensely strong. Steven was finding it hard to even get their attentions, let alone fighting them head on. While that was good, not being able to do anything to stop the two pokémon from fighting each other and wreaking havoc in the sea was really hard. And what was more that they were heading towards Petalburg City where, as far as he knew, Rayquaza was already causing massive destruction and casualties. While they were still quite far away from the city, the rate at which the two pokémon were headed there made it certain that they would reach there in just over half an hour – which left little time for Steven to do something about them.

He gritted his teeth in frustration as he directed another move. "Flash Cannon!"

A blue-white orb formed in front of Metagross's claws and it fired a beam of energy at Groudon, getting the legendary pokémon's attention temporarily. Groudon reacted with Eruption, sending a number of fiery rocks into the air that started raining down on Metagross and Steven, who was in a helicopter – therefore, putting him in a precarious position.

"Steven, it's too dangerous to stay here any longer!"

Steven heard the pilot shout at him, and turned back with a fierce expression on his face. "Stay right here! As long as we direct the two pokémon away from the city, we should be fine." Then, he pulled out his Holo Caster. "Sawyer! Alain!"

The two trainers showed up on the projected hologram, both of them sweating profusely. "What is it?"

"Did you find any way to sidetrack Kyogre away from Groudon and Petalburg?"

"We haven't been successful. We can barely get its attention. It's like the two pokémon are in so much pain that they aren't even aware of the surroundings."

"If you do find a way, let me know."

"Sure."

Steven put aside the Holo Caster and glanced out of the helicopter towards the other one where Sawyer and Alain were visible, both of them looking down at Kyogre who had just dived underwater. _Why did this happen again?_ He thought with annoyance as he glanced back towards Groudon who still was walking towards Petalburg. He, then, brought his gaze towards where they were heading and felt a small chill crawl up his spine as he saw a tiny bit of land visible at the horizon. _We are almost there._ He thought, panicked. _We must find a way somehow to get these two away from here._

As the thought crossed his mind, he saw Rayquaza in the sky just above the horizon, firing a dark beam at the ground, which was followed by a distant boom as a large, black cloud of smoke rose in the air. _Fuck; is it too late to stop Rayquaza? Rayquaza was the one, last time, to stop Groudon and Kyogre from battling but who is going to stop all three of them now?_

As he contemplated his choices, another bright flash caught his attention. He turned to look back towards Petalburg and saw something flying towards them rapidly. Its form was unmistakable. Steven urgently told his pilot to move away from their spot as he pulled out his Holo Caster.

"Sawyer, Alain, get away at once! Rayquaza is flying in this direction for Arceus-knows-what reason."

It was obvious that the two had heeded his advice as he saw their helicopter getting away from their position and a little bit higher. When they thought they were far enough away, Steven ordered them to stop the helicopter and he leaned forward to get a better view of what was about to happen.

Rayquaza rapidly closed the distance with an almost unreal speed; the humans could actually see the air compressing around its head. But it didn't seem to slow down at all. Instead, what caught their attention was the small speck appearing and apparently, following Rayquaza. There was no mistaking the humanness of the figure.

A person was flying after Rayquaza with the same incredible speed.

The person was quite far away though, so they couldn't make out his face at all. The person seemed to fly right after Rayquaza who was hurtling through the air at what seemed like the speed of sound. Just as the legendary pokémon reached between the two helicopters, a flash of light occurred exactly above it and a person appeared midair.

As they all watched in absolute disbelief, the person flew down rapidly and kicked Rayquaza so hard that its snake-like body bent like a tuning fork and it hurtled through the air, crashing into Groudon. The impact was powerful enough to send the two pokémon right through the land that Groudon had formed and into the cold sea.

The person stayed hovering in the air, panting quietly as everyone in the helicopters turned to glance at him. It was…

"Max?!" Alain burst out in shock. He had met the kid three years ago when they had celebrated Ash's birthday, and owing to work for Professor Sycamore, Alain and Mairin had left a lot earlier, eventually missing out on the following Team Rocket debacle. Back then, he had seemed like a nice, calm kid. But right now, the pure rage visible in his fiery eyes sent a chill down Alain's spine.

"You know him?" asked Sawyer in surprise.

"Not as a close friend," replied Alain, still getting over the stupefaction of what he had just seen. "I did meet him back at Ash's birthday and celebration. He sure as hell didn't seem this dangerous or strong then."

Max seemed to have calmed down slightly as he gave a sigh and looked around. He wasn't surprised to see two helicopters as much as he was surprised to see their occupants. **"Alain? And Steven? And I think you are Sawyer, am I right?"**

All three of them were surprised to hear his voice in their heads, completely drowning out the helicopter's loud, flapping blades. They nodded at his question. He observed them for a moment before turning to look down. **"Let's talk later. Let me first deal with those three."**

As he said that, the surface of water suddenly split up as Rayquaza was thrown into the air, followed by Groudon who filled up the hole that had formed in the land he had created. Rayquaza quickly established some distance between itself and Groudon as it started forming another dark purple sphere in its mouth.

"Max, it is using Hyper Beam!" called out Sawyer but his voice was drowned out in the noisy rotation of the helicopter blades.

It seemed like Max knew what was about to happen though but he didn't make a move. Instead, all of them watched as Groudon grew in size and his skin colour changed from dark red to deep crimson and its underside turned black. The people watching the transformation knew at once – Groudon was reverting back to its primal form.

Max clicked his tongue in annoyance. _I don't know if normal aura attacks will work on it. I can still deal with Rayquaza since it hasn't yet gone back to its primal form but about those two, it seems hard to decide. I guess I should just give it a try. Physical attacks should still work even if aura doesn't._

As they watched, Rayquaza, in his mega evolved form, fired a Hyper Beam. It was, by no means, as strong as the earlier Hyper Beams; it was way, way stronger and a gazillion times larger as it hit the Primal Groudon, exploding in a huge blast that forced all the watchers to quickly get out of its impact zone.

They weren't completely successful though as the helicopter blades were hit by the shockwave, unbalancing the vehicle. The pilots knew that the helicopter won't last long and said as much to the occupants, making them glance back at the destruction in annoyance.

 **"You guys should go back,"** they heard Max's voice clearly in their heads. **"If I am not wrong, those helicopters won't be able to handle another blast like that."**

"But then what about you, Max?" shouted Steven as loudly as he could, though he was sure the trainer wouldn't be able to hear him.

 **"I will stay alive,"** replied Max dryly with a slight tinge of casualness to the tone of his voice. **"You needn't worry."**

The three listeners heard no more from him and decided, albeit reluctantly, to go back since the helicopters were getting harder to handle in the air. As soon as they were out of the danger zone, Max acted.

He flew quickly towards Rayquaza's tail and caught hold of it in an iron grip, preventing Rayquaza from moving anywhere. Rayquaza had already damaged Groudon a lot during their talk and Max intended to take full advantage of it. He could sense Kyogre swimming around near the land formed by Groudon and decided to lure it out.

He started spinning Rayquaza quickly. Although the speed was slower at first, it quickly increased. When he felt it was enough, he suddenly flew near Groudon, bringing the legendary pokémon in the range of the circle formed by the pokémon being spun.

Rayquaza's head hit Groudon's severely; the impact stopped Rayquaza on the spot. It was so sudden that Max felt his shoulders being jerked at mercilessly, making him lose his grip on the dragon-type. As he massaged his shoulders lightly to rid them of the sudden strain, Groudon fell down due to the impact into the sea, while Rayquaza, who had a huge gash on his head where he had hit Groudon, lay on the ground unconscious. Max observed it for some time before deciding that Rayquaza had been dealt with. It was now time to deal with the remaining two.

Suddenly, water split up some distance away from the land below, and Groudon shot up in the air with multiple blue beams hitting him. The beams disappeared, and as Groudon fell down, Kyogre suddenly jumped from inside the sea and hit it, sending it flying into the landmass that it had formed earlier. The landmass cracked and Groudon passed right through it, before being thrown into the sea again. Kyogre disappeared underwater as well.

Watching the two battle, Max was sure that this sudden awakening of the legendary pokémon had something to do with what had happened three years ago with Mewtwo and Team Rocket. Why the effects were showing up now was the question that was bugging him. He wasn't going to dwell on it now, though. Knocking out these pokémon took the highest priority.

He stopped hovering and let himself fall into the ocean, taking a deep breath midair. He cleanly dived into the ocean without making a huge splash, and opened his eyes slowly, letting them get used to the water. It didn't take him long to notice Groudon standing on a rock some distance away with his face above water while Kyogre was swimming around rapidly, attacking randomly at Groudon with its powerful water-type attacks.

 _Let's try an aura beam._ Max thought as he brought his palms closer and kept them at a short distance from each other while forming a small but concentrated aura sphere in between. _I should be able to blind them temporarily at the least if I couldn't damage them._

As he concentrated even more of his aura in the sphere, the water around him started to heat up and the sphere began to brighten up slowly but surely. Meanwhile, Max kept an eye on the two battling legendaries to make sure they weren't going out of his range. He was soon ready to fire but waited when he saw them ceasing to battle. Instead, Kyogre started swimming rapidly towards him as multiple blue orbs suddenly appeared around it. In the meantime, Groudon formed land in front of him and advanced towards Max as well. Max presumed their sudden interest in him due to the dense aura sphere in his palms. He decided to use that to his advantage.

As soon as Kyogre was close enough, Max unleashed the aura beam right in its face. The beam, exploded immediately on contact with Kyogre and the part of the beam, surrounding Kyogre and not hitting it, continued like lightning towards Groudon and hit the land that it had formed, making it explode as well.

The explosions weren't the usual ones that Max was accustomed to; even he was surprised at the strength of his own aura beam. The water, where the explosion occurred, vaporised at once, leaving a massive gap to be immediately filled with the colder surrounding water. By the time, the steam disappeared, Kyogre was floating on the surface, lifeless. Meanwhile, the land that had blown up under Groudon, had gone up in the air like a volcanic eruption, and was raining down on Groudon who was already sinking in the ocean; it too seemed on the verge of losing its consciousness.

Max immediately flew above the surface of the water as the surrounding water started filling up the massive cavern that had formed due to his aura beam. He flew higher to get an idea of just how powerful his beam was and was shocked at the sight. The water around him that had been vaporised must have taken the size of at least a whole battlefield while the part where Kyogre had been, must have been as large as a whole stadium containing four of those battlefields. Since Groudon had been above water before being bombed, the water wasn't displaced too much but the land, where it had been standing, had been completely destroyed; there was no indication that there had been land earlier. The closest intact part of the land which Groudon had formed was at least half a mile away from its sinking spot.

 _Holy. Shit._ That was all Max could think as he looked at the damage that his aura beam had caused. _And that wasn't even fifty percent of my power, I would guess. I didn't expect our training to be_ this _fruitful. This is insane._

He glanced back in the direction of Hoenn and saw the helicopters just reaching the city. He then looked down where Groudon had disappeared but there weren't any bubbles on the surface any more. Sighing, he, once again, dived down into the water and quickly threw Groudon out and onto the land. After that, he disappeared in a flash of light.

* * *

"Paul, I am heading off to Sunyshore City," called out Dawn as she let out her Togekiss. "Let's hope we can do something about them."

"Use your brain for fuck's sake," said Paul coarsely. "Do you really think you have a chance against one of those legendaries? It's not like you focused on battle much; you were always in contests."

"I suppose so," said Dawn with a scowl. "You don't have to be so damn harsh, Paul. I will find a way somehow."

"Well then, don't come crying to me if you can't do anything," said Paul, giving her a surly look. "I won't be helping you; that's for damn sure."

"Just make sure _you_ won't be needing my help," retorted Dawn. "I still might help you though if you say 'please'."

"In your dreams," came Paul's response as he disappeared around a bend in the road.

Dawn huffed for a moment and then prodded Togekiss to fly towards Sunyshore City. It took her some time but she managed to reach Sunyshore City just in time to see Palkia suddenly appearing through a portal in the sky. Then, the scenery of the city slowly started to twist _literally_.

Dawn figured out at once that Palkia was taking the whole city in its dimension where it won't last longer than an hour. "Togekiss, quick! Fly into the city!"

Togekiss followed her order and the two ended up in the city's sky just as the city disappeared from their world.

Dawn looked up and wasn't surprised to see the grey cloudiness around her. The problem was how to calm down or even knock out Palkia. The last time that had happened, they were in Alamos Town where the Space-Time Tower was situated. Even if the Space-Time Tower were here in the Sunyshore City, she didn't know the song that Alice had played to calm the legendaries down.

It seemed like a lose-lose situation to Dawn. She bit her lip in slight frustration. _Maybe, I should have listened to Paul; this was going to be a temporary affair anyway. At least, I hope so._

She asked Togekiss to land and returned her. But now, she had no idea what to do next. It wasn't like she had planned already what she was going to do. Nevertheless, she started walking towards where Palkia was rampaging chaotically while people ran away from the location in hopes of staying as far away as possible; that was useless though as Palkia's arm started glowing pink like the pearls on its body and it slashed the air, releasing a pink blade of energy towards where the people were running, killing at least half of the population right then and there. Dawn could only watch in horror as it happened. The part of the town where the attack exploded also disappeared in pink particles that flew into the cloudiness surrounding the city.

 _How the heck am I supposed to fight that?_ Dawn couldn't help thinking as she turned back slowly to glance at Palkia whose arms had a light green aura surrounding them. It then lashed out suddenly forming a sharp shockwave with its Dragon Claw that pierced through several buildings before continuing on in the oblivion beyond. The cut buildings tumbled down, revealing several slashed human and pokémon that had stayed inside the buildings for protection. The sight was nauseating to the core to say the least. Dawn looked away in revulsion, trying to not throw up.

Palkia, in the meantime, was flying around, still randomly using its water-type and dragon-type attacks, destroying the city rather quickly. Dawn, not wanting to give up without trying, released her Pachirisu. Pachirisu, once hyperactive, was now a lot calmer. He looked around and for a moment, freaked out at the sudden sight of Palkia.

"That's right, Pachirisu," said Dawn, with a somewhat confident look. "That's our opponent; we have to defeat it at all costs."

Pachirisu seemed to sense her lack of complete conviction as he tilted his head sideways. Dawn gave an unsure nod, confirming that she knew her opponent was not easy to defeat and that was why she wasn't confident. Pachirisu gave a determined smirk, easing Dawn slightly. "Let's do this, Pachirisu," she said, pointing at Palkia who was looking away from them. "Use Charge Beam!"

Pachirisu, who had grown stronger during the last three years, unleashed his strongest attack towards Palkia and hit it accurately. Almost immediately, it became obvious that even though the electricity hadn't done much damage, Palkia was paralyzed. In the meantime, Dawn released Piplup and directed him to use Hydro Pump, and then Pachirisu to jump into the Hydro Pump and use Discharge.

The pokémon followed her orders and Pachirisu jumped into the torrent of water as Piplup fired it towards Palkia. Pachirisu then discharged its stored electricity into the water for some time and then jumped down as soon as it was about to hit Palkia. The electrified water hit Palkia on its head and completely drenched it as well as further paralyzed it, making the pokémon vulnerable.

Palkia, though, wasn't about to be defeated by small fries; it roared loudly, deafening everyone in the city as its forearm started glowing pink. Then, it slashed towards Dawn, releasing a powerful energy blade.

 _Crap._ Dawn looked at the approaching blade for a brief moment and then ran as fast as her feet could take her out of its way. She barely saved herself, for the energy blade hit the ground where she was standing and exploded immediately, completely destroying the ground there and leaving a gaping hole through which she could see the cloudiness of the dimension they were in. The broken ground started fragmenting slowly into pink particles that went up in the air and merged with the dimension.

 _I almost died there,_ she thought as she looked at the disintegrating ground. Then she turned back at Palkia who was readying another Spacial Rend. _And the more it uses this attack, the less the time I will have to defeat it. It's paralyzed slightly anyway so I should be able to do something that could completely restrict its movements._

"Piplup! Pachirisu!" She called out to her pokémon, hoping that they had dodged the attack as well. She heard a faint, faraway response to her calls and quickly started in the direction where she had heard it. She reached near one of the buildings over which Palkia was hovering and noticed her pokémon hiding behind it.

"Thank goodness; you two are okay," said Dawn, evidently relieved. But then, she noticed the red liquid stuck to Pachirisu's fur on its back. "Were you hurt, Pachirisu?"

Pachirisu gave her a reluctant look and then slowly turned around to show her its back. Dawn felt horrified to see a large cut across its back. It wasn't bleeding but the blister around the wound made it hard to look at it without feeling revolted. Combined with that was the dried blood on its back, making the wound look even worse. It seemed like Pachirisu had barely managed to escape Palkia's attack.

Dawn returned Pachirisu at once as Piplup climbed and sat on her head. "Let's go to the Pokémon Centre, Piplup," she said, getting up. "Let's hope that the Pokémon Centre hasn't disappeared yet."

Fortunately for her, the Pokémon Centre was okay and she quickly made her way in – only to be greeted by emptiness. Nurse Joy was the only one at the reception desk but no one else. Dawn peered towards the backside of the Centre and felt slightly surprised to see the building disintegrating into the pink particles she had seen earlier.

 _That explains the silence,_ she thought as she ran towards Nurse Joy and handed over Pachirisu's pokéball. At the same time, she returned Piplup to his pokéball.

"I won't be here by the time you return," called the nurse as Dawn made her way to the door.

"Don't worry; I will be on time," replied Dawn and left the Centre. She glanced around for Palkia but her attention was diverted when she saw a portal opening some distance away. Curious, she quickly ran towards it, hoping that it would stay open and she would be able to let people through it. She came to a stop near it when she saw the person stepping out of it.

It was Ace.

"What are you doing here, Ace?" she asked with a slight tinge of anger to her voice. She still couldn't forget what had happened with May back at the hospital.

Ace glanced at her and gave a sigh. "Spare me the trouble," he said, slightly annoyed. "And I am not the criminal that you think I am."

"You can't say that when May testified against you," Dawn burst out.

"Ask Bonnie, or even Max," said Ace with a careless shrug and a bored expression. "They will tell you the truth."

"Why can't you?"

"You won't believe me."

"What if I do?"

"Well, the criminal is my doppelganger."

There was silence for some time while Palkia went around destroying the city in the background. Then, Dawn gave a defeated sigh. "I find that hard to believe."

"See?" Ace didn't speak anymore and started off towards Palkia who had landed just now near where the lighthouse had been.

"Where are you going?" asked Dawn curiously, running after him even though she still felt slightly annoyed.

"Where do you think I am heading?" retorted Ace sarcastically.

"No need to be so scornful," said Dawn as she fell into step with him.

"I don't have time for stupid questions," said Ace impatiently. "If you can't read the situation quickly, you might as well not exist for me."

Dawn felt deflated at his statement and kept quiet. She and Ace made their way to Palkia just as the legendary sent another Spacial Rend in their direction. Dawn freaked out and jumped out of its way but Ace simply deflected it with his hand as if it was a weak attack. The energy blade hit a building beyond what they could see, followed by an explosion. Dawn could see the smoke from where they were. The smoke was then followed by the same pink particles from earlier.

"Are you kidding me?" She asked, gaping at Ace incredulously. "Are you even human?"

"No, I am not," replied Ace scornfully. "Now stay out of my way while I deal with Palkia."

"Are you sure?" asked Dawn but her words fell on deaf ears.

Ace teleported directly in front of Palkia, taking both of them by surprise and forming an aura hammer in his hands, he hit the legendary pokémon at the front of its neck. He followed it by another hit to its head. The impact was so strong that the ground underneath Palkia broke through and the pokémon passed right through it into oblivion.

Dawn couldn't believe her eyes as Ace returned calmly. He gave her a fleeting glance and continued ahead without waiting for her. Dawn snapped out of her stupor and ran after him, wanting to ask him a lot of questions. As soon as she proceeded to open her mouth, Ace gave her such a fierce glare that she shut up at once.

The two walked to the centre of the city where Ace stopped, squatted and put his hands on the ground. The next second, they were back at the original location of the Sunyshore City in their world. Dawn was taken aback to see the city back to its original condition. She turned towards where Ace was, and was even more surprised to see him gone. She simply stood there, staring incessantly and mindlessly for some time before the distant cheer of the rejoicing citizens broke her out of her stupor.

 _I guess I need to ask Max and Bonnie a lot of questions,_ she thought, shaking her head as she started towards the Pokémon Centre. _This guy is a total mystery._

* * *

 _What a pain in the ass_. Paul looked around expressionlessly at the destruction caused by Dialga in Snowpoint City.

"Isn't that you, Paul?"

Paul turned around to see the Sinnoh Champion Cynthia, walking towards him with her Garchomp by her side. He gave a simple nod and then turned back to see Dialga as it released an indigo-white beam somewhere at the centre of the city, resulting in a huge explosion; the two trainers could easily see the mushroom cloud forming over the place.

Paul wordlessly took out a pokéball and released his Drapion. Drapion smirked at his emergence, and then, looking at his trainer's serious expression, sobered and turned to glance at the rampaging Dialga. Paul, then, turned towards Cynthia with a searching look on his face.

Cynthia stared back at him for a moment and then gave a nod. She turned back towards Dialga as she said, "Let's work together, Paul. We won't be able to bring it under control until we damage it enough or knock it out."

Paul stared at her for a second and then followed her line of sight to Dialga who was now flying in their direction. As he did that, a sudden bright glow beside him, blinded him. As soon as it faded, he glanced back and wasn't surprised to see her Garchomp mega evolved.

"Just so you know," said Cynthia suddenly, glancing at Paul. "Poison-type moves won't work on Dialga. You will have to go with dark-type moves."

"I know that," growled Paul. "How about we focus on stopping Dialga first?"

Cynthia gave him a long glance and then nodded. "Garchomp, Sand Tomb!"

Garchomp flew in the air as a small tornado formed under Dialga. Once she was ready, she fired the sandy tornado upwards, taking Dialga by surprise and hitting it effectively.

Cynthia continued with another attack. "Draco Meteor! When it gets distracted, Sand Tomb again!"

Garchomp fired a white energy ball, surrounded with orange glow, towards the sky, which broke up near Dialga. Because of the proximity of the attack, many of the fragments hit Dialga successfully. The rest, which didn't, were controlled by Garchomp so that they hit Dialga from below. This resulted in a huge explosion at where Dialga was, covering the location in smoke.

Paul decided to act at that instant. "Dark Pulse, Drapion!"

Drapion immediately fired a beam of purple and black circles towards the smoke cloud. The attack hit Dialga accurately, resulting in another smoky blast. The impact shoved Dialga outside the black cloud. The expression on its face showed that while the attacks were effective, they weren't strong enough to deal the kind of damage that would immobilize the legendary pokémon.

Dialga started forming another indigo sphere while Cynthia and Paul racked their brains to find a way to defeat Dialga.

Suddenly, a bright light glowed behind the two. It was followed by a blue aura beam that hit Dialga and not only detonated the indigo energy ball in its face but also sent it flying away from the city.

Just as the legendary pokémon was about to fly out of their vision, a small light appeared in its path, revealing an Infernape as the light vanished. The flame on the fire-type's head was actually glowing white – it was a shock because no fire-type so far had unlocked the advanced form of the ability Blaze which was signified by the white colour.

As they looked on in everlasting astonishment, Infernape flipped in the air while its leg flamed up suddenly in blinding white colour. The burning leg hit Dialga unerringly on its head so hard, that a visible shockwave formed in the air and expanded rapidly, breaking windows and all other brittle items in all the nearby buildings.

Even before the impact was fully registered, the Infernape followed with another, even stronger kick in Dialga's head, forming such a strong shockwave that everyone felt the earth under them shake. Dialga shot towards the ground like a bullet. It was followed by a loud crack as if a meteorite had just struck there, which was further followed by an earthquake that was enough to make the buildings sway visibly. The visible swaying made the residents panic while the Infernape vanished in a flicker of light in the same way like it had earlier appeared.

As soon as Infernape disappeared, the buildings, near the crater where Dialga had been shot into, started yielding. Paul and Cynthia quickly exchanged dumbfounded glances and then kicked themselves into action as they ran towards the place to help calm down the panic-stricken crowd.

* * *

"Are you okay, Cilan?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Iris. But you better make sure that you stay safe. Reshiram and Zekrom's violent battle is not going to stop until we find a way to stop them."

"I'm racking my brains."

Iris helped Cilan up while a blast happened behind her, followed by Reshiram's roar. Cilan quickly looked around for Pansage and wasn't surprised to see him outcold. He returned him while Iris ran towards her Haxorus who was barely on his feet with all the wounds inflicted on him. Iris, in spite of Haxorus's wish to fight, returned him and told him to rest as she turned back to glance at the two battling legendaries.

She glanced back at Cilan who released his Glaceon; he had caught it as an Eevee back in Kalos when he had been there for a fishing competition. Iris, too, released her Dragonite. The two were starting to get desperate. They were with their last pokémon and it didn't seem like any of the attacks they had done had had any effect on the two legendaries.

Most of their surroundings were already destroyed due to their battle. Most of their pokémon were critically injured while trying to unsuccessfully stop them from battling. They themselves were feeling more and more restless as the seconds passed while the battle between Reshiram and Zekrom continued.

"Glaceon, Blizzard!" shouted Cilan, a bit anxiously. "Try and freeze Reshiram!"

"Dragonite, Dragon Rush!" ordered Iris, immediately after. "Slam into Zekrom!"

The two pokémon used the respective moves at their strongest, knowing that their trainers depended on them. Glaceon's blizzard vaporised as soon as it hit Reshiram; there was no point in attacking, it seemed. The legendaries were too strong. Dragon Rush didn't work either as Zekrom's Bolt Strike proved too effective; the brute force of the attack sent Dragonite flying right into Iris.

Iris heard audible cracks as pain shot through her chest while she flew backwards. She crashed into a large rock beyond her, getting all the wind knocked out of her stomach. She threw up blood when she slammed into the rock while Dragonite was already unconscious due to Zekrom's attack. The momentum from the impact broke her right leg which was behind her, while one of the sharp edges of the rock she had hit pierced her near her butt, making her bleed profusely. Another sharp corner got her on her side but it didn't bleed as badly as her other wounds.

Cilan, in the meantime, got thrown away due to the resulting shockwave of Zekrom's attack and slid a lot of distance on the ground, completely getting his shirt torn from the back and even scraping his skin quite badly. The pain he felt was intense and was spread all over his back and the back of his arms and legs. He wasn't unconscious though; he could still move albeit painfully, unlike Iris who looked like she could pass out any time.

He slowly got up and looked at the fighting legendaries, trying to make sense of their situation right now, and how to deal with it. As his mind raced, he slowly made his way towards Iris, who had returned Dragonite somehow and now lay in direct range of the legendaries' attacks. Reaching her, he slowly pulled her behind the rock for temporary shelter as he surveyed the damage she had endured.

There was not much he could do, he decided, as he tore off a part of his already useless shirt and started tying up as many of her injuries as he could. He could close up most of her wounds with what was left of his shirt but he didn't have any idea how to make sure her broken leg would stay still; it wasn't possible in their situation.

 _Sometimes, I wonder what the hell I have gotten myself into._ Cilan thought, peeking around the rock only to be greeted by a flying stone. He quickly moved back as the stone flew away harmlessly. _Then I realise I got the inspiration from Ash – the inspiration to dedicate myself to all pokémon. This has become a problem for me right now though. Ash might have had the most experience in dealing with legendaries, but what about the rest of us? It's not like we have any special aura or we are the chosen ones. How do we deal with this?_

His mind continued trying to think of a way out while the legendaries kept on battling, attacking one after other and essentially damaging each other seemingly needlessly. Just then, something whooshed past them and Cilan was surprised to see a Bouffalant using Giga Impact at Reshiram.

Reshiram responded with a Blue Flare which Bouffalant dodged. The normal-type pokémon hit Reshiram rather hard, pushing it back a little, while taking advantage of the recoil momentum, it returned back near them.

"Are you okay?"

Cilan glanced towards the source of voice and saw it was the Unova Champion, Alder. The champion glanced once at Iris and ordered Cilan to get out of the area while he made sure the two pokémon wouldn't attack in their direction. Just as he said that, another shockwave occurred as Reshiram's and Zekrom's attacks collided, displacing the stone behind which they were taking shelter.

Cilan gave a nod, picked up Iris gently bridal-style while making sure not to jerk her already broken body too much, and started running away from the danger zone, apologizing to Alder in his mind for not being of much help. Alder calmly watched as Cilan ran away with Iris, and then turned his attention back to the legendaries.

Just as he was about to command another attack, an interruption occurred in the form of a blue room surrounding him as well as the legendary pokémon. The legendary pokémon were too busy in their battle to notice it but Alder did and felt a slight bit relieved. Just then, one of his elite four, Caitlin appeared beside him.

"Let's hope their moves slow down a bit," said Caitlin, glancing briefly at the regional champion.

Alder didn't say anything as he continued staring at the legendaries while their speed slowed down slightly. The effect wasn't as much as he would have liked, but it was something. He looked at Caitlin. "What about the others?"

"Kyurem."

"Where?"

"Icirrus City."

"All three of them?"

"Yes."

He turned back to glance at the legendaries as another shockwave pushed him back. He let the wave force him a back a couple of steps and then stopped as he returned his Bouffalant. He then released his Vanilluxe.

"Gothitelle, Future Sight on Zekrom!"

"Vanilluxe, Avalanche on Zekrom as well!"

Gothitelle created five blue balls of energy and blasted them through wormholes as a black cloud appeared over Zekrom. Chunks of white, clear ice started falling rapidly like a blizzard on Zekrom, taking both the fighting pokémon by surprise. Vanilluxe was quick and covered Zekrom in a mound of snow in a matter of seconds. Right after that, wormholes appeared around Zekrom's snow-hidden body and hit it at the same time, resulting in a huge explosion that almost shattered the wall on the far side of the blue room. The snow melted in the explosion, revealing a slightly damaged Zekrom.

Zekrom, angered by the interruption, countered with a powerful blue thunder that hit Gothitelle directly, knocking it out instantly. The stray lightning from the attack ended up hitting Vanilluxe and damaging the ice-type copiously. Alder gritted his teeth in frustration as the shockwave from the thunder forced him away from his pokémon towards where the wall of the Trick Room had been before Gothitelle was defeated.

"How are we supposed to defeat them?" asked Caitlin, rather calmly even though her voice relayed her anger.

"No fucking idea," snapped Alder at her, his mind racing to figure a way out to defeat them.

"I will deal with them."

The two turned behind to see a black-haired trainer walking towards them. He was slightly injured on his shoulder, evident by the clotted blood on the cut, but there wasn't the slightest bit of fatigue or pain visible on his face.

"Who are you?" asked Caitlin.

"Ace."

"Well, Ace, how do you intend to deal with them?" asked Alder, scratching his head figuratively in confusion.

"I will; just get going," said Ace, not answering the question. "Kyurem is destroying Icirrus City as if it's a toy. You don't want to lose half of Unova's population, do you?"

"But we can't let anyone die for us; you ca…"

Ace, fed up of the endless blabbering, teleported the two top regional trainers to Icirrus City. He felt relieved as soon as they disappeared. He then turned towards the legendaries; bloodlust glistening in his eyes as black stripes started appearing on his body.

* * *

Alder, who had been just talking to a trainer named Ace, was stupefied at the sudden change in scenery as he looked at the ruins that were once the Icirrus City. Even before his mind could register the change, he felt Caitlin poke him.

"Let's go," she said, pointing at the other edge of the destroyed city, where Kyurem stood. "We can question what happened right now later."

Alder gave her a prolonged look and then nodded. "Let's go."

The two made their way quickly towards Kyurem where the other three of the Unova Elite Four were. The first person they saw of the three was Grimsley.

"Grimsley!" called Alder as the two neared him. "What's the situation right now?"

Girmsley was surprised at the sudden appearance of the champion but he quickly shoved the urge to ask him why he was there aside as he replied with a shake of his head. "Kyurem is too strong. Most of our pokémon are already unconscious. We did manage to damage it a bit but it certainly isn't enough to stop it, let alone knocking it out."

"Let's give it another try," said Caitlin calmly.

"And how do you suppose to do that?" asked Grimsley sarcastically. "All of my pokémon are unconscious. Marshal has his Sawk left. Shauntal has her Chandelure left. The rest were all defeated. Hell, if we hadn't returned them on time, they would have been dead."

"I have Gardevoir left on me," remarked Caitlin. She turned towards Alder and raised an eyebrow.

"Druddigon," said Alder with a scowl. "How are we supposed to deal with Kyurem then?"

"Well seeing that Kyurem would be weak against dragon, fairy and fighting-types, we should be able to deal a lot of damage," stated Grimsley, turning to look at Kyurem who was now farther away from the city it had already destroyed.

"We should put Kyurem out of action as soon as possible," said Alder determinedly. He turned towards Grimsley. "Where are the other two?"

"Up ahead; let's go."

Grimsley started running ahead; Alder and Caitlin followed. A few minutes later, they came across Marshal and his injured Sawk and an injured Shauntal with her unconscious Chandelure. Alder clicked his tongue in annoyance when he saw the two pokémon he had been banking on were almost out of action. One look at their damage was enough to let him know that he couldn't force them to battle; another attack form Kyurem would handicap them forever – if it didn't kill them.

He stared down at the ground thoughtfully, trying to find a way out of their situation.

"Alder!" Grimsley's voice interrupted his train of thoughts as he glanced up, only to be greeted by an approaching Dragon Pulse. Taken aback, he tried jumping out of the way but wasn't fast enough.

The Dragon Pulse hit just as he jumped out of its way. While he managed to avoid a direct hit, the explosion that happened on contact rendered him comatose as he was thrown away from the location. Grimsley, who was further behind in his path, ended up getting hit by his battered body and got thrown down, hitting his head on the ground and losing his consciousness.

Caitlin watched the event unfold with frustration coursing through her veins at their helpless situation. There was nothing they could do at that moment except watch the legendary pokémon rampaging around and killing people who had made it out of fallen buildings barely alive. She had no idea what to do; even if she had, she wouldn't have known how to do it.

Suddenly, she heard a distant boom. She glanced in the direction and saw the clouds in the sky near the horizon bifurcating as if a ship was flowing through them, cutting them in two. Below the divergence, she could see trees of the forest flying into the air like feathers as something massive made its way towards their location – directly towards Kyurem.

Whatever it was; its speed was exceedingly fast – almost like a bullet – as it made its way there. A few seconds passed and Caitlin felt the pressure in the air increasing as the object neared. Soon enough, she heard the cracking noises of trees increasing exponentially. After a split second of that, a shockwave followed that forced her back, and then there was another loud crash as the last of trees in the object's way flew into the air and the object hit Kyurem.

Caitlin had to close her eyes as the broken trees and their barks and branches flew towards her while Kyurem was sent flying with the object. The noise receded and the air pressure decreased almost immediately as Kyurem and the object disappeared. The collision seemed to have slowed down the flying object as the noise that had filled the air for the last couple of minutes stopped altogether and trees stopped flying as well.

Caitlin glanced up and saw that the clouds had stopped bifurcating just about a mile away from where she was. Curious and careful, she ran towards the wide gaping hole in the forest surrounding the city that had formed due to the object and stared. The sight made her gape.

The entity that had hit Kyurem and knocked him out at once was none other than an unconscious and bleeding Zekrom.

* * *

Bonnie decided to go to Clemont; since Max had talked to her brother about Team Rocket, he was sure to have at least found out some information for them. She figured she would later go and see Cole who was still in the Pokémon Centre – the hospital having fallen due to an unknown assailant. She didn't know how she would go ahead after she had got all the information from her brother and Cole but she knew she would figure something out.

She quickly called Clemont and let him know she was coming. Clemont responded by telling her to get to the stadium where he was. Bonnie obeyed and swiftly made her way there, reaching his room just as he walked out.

"What do you want?" asked Clemont, looking even more tired than earlier.

"Just what you found about Team Rocket," replied Bonnie as she started after him while he walked down the passageway they were in. "What you and Max talked about earlier."

Clemont paused and gave a sheepish grin. "Sorry, Bonnie. I have been too busy lately so haven't been able to do anything. I am going off to Police Station right now to finish up the last of my work. I can search for whatever you want after that."

Bonnie gave him a long glance and then nodded. She then walked a few steps ahead before turning back to glance at him. "You know, you should rest first. What I want can wait but your sleep can't."

Clemont gave a small smile and nodded. Bonnie smiled back and then left for the Pokémon Centre. As she passed by the foyer of the stadium where a huge monitor was installed that screened the battles inside, she blankly glanced at the monitor. It took some time but her brain finally registered that something looked really wrong.

The camera was showing some of the worried faces from the audience. Some people were running towards the exit in panic. The trainers on the battlefield – Max and his opponent – were looking around. The two looked confused. The referee seemed like he was talking to someone through his microphone.

After some time, the referee motioned to the trainers to come near and said something. Bonnie couldn't hear what was being said but she figured it was something really important to have interrupted and paused the tournament. After a bit of talking, the opponent ran – Bonnie could see his panicked face clearly as he left. Max had a serious look on his face too, as he nodded at the referee and started towards the exit of the battlefield.

Bonnie decided to wait there and leaned on the nearby wall, observing the people around. She could see that the crowd was slowly increasing and while some people seemed to be terrified, the ones, who weren't leaving immediately, seemed to be calling someone – Bonnie presumed the called to be their family.

She was quite curious though, as to what had happened and couldn't hold herself back as she made her way to a group of trainers nearby, some of which seemed really worried. She poked one of the guys and he turned around, looking surprised to see such an attractive – even sexy –girl wanting to talk to him.

Before he could speak, Bonnie interrupted with her inquisitive question. "What happened?"

The boy looked surprised at her ignorance. "You don't know? Apparently, legendary pokémon all over the world seemed to have gone berserk. Many of them have been attacking the nearby cities madly. We just heard that Xerneas attacked Santalune City, and that Yveltal had attacked Shalour City." He went on to tell Bonnie what he had heard.

Bonnie felt horrified. She knew that the legendaries were going berserk and she had had an idea that the situation would be bad but what she heard felt unbelievable. She didn't show her disbelief and simply nodded when he finished speaking.

"Carl, your family is okay."

The guy, Bonnie was talking to, looked visibly relieved. "What about yours?" He asked all his friends.

They gave a nod. "Everyone is fine." One of the two girls replied. "No one is injured. Yours and Nora's parents are on their way here now."

"That's good to hear," he said, then turned to Bonnie. "What about yours?"

"They live here so they are safe at the moment," replied Bonnie quickly, noticing Max appearing in the crowd. "Alright, I have to go."

"Wait!"

Bonnie stopped and glanced at Carl with confusion. "What?"

Carl looked flustered when she glanced back at him. His body language was enough to tell Bonnie what he wanted to say. She narrowed her eyes slightly. "If you are going to ask me out, I am sorry to say but I am taken."

Looking at his amazement, she shook her head lightly and then left after giving him a sweet smile. The smile was enough to melt Carl who at the least looked infatuated with her. He shook his head to keep himself from getting distracted, and turned back only to see his friends glancing back at him.

He shrugged. "You can't deny it. She's good."

His other two male friends laughed lightly.

"You got us. She's gorgeous," one of the two admitted.

"But she's out of your league," said the other. The girls didn't say anything but it was obvious that they were envious of her.

Carl shrugged again. "Doesn't hurt to try."

"Look, her boyfriend!" the second girl, who had been quiet all this while, suddenly spoke. Their attention was quickly turned towards the exit where they could see Max greeting Bonnie and the two leaving together.

"You might have a chance after all, Carl."

"I am not so sure; sure, he isn't particularly handsome or anything but he doesn't look that bad either."

"Weren't you the one who said 'doesn't hurt to try'? Now is the time to go and try."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

Max and Bonnie glanced back as the five friends left. Bonnie had a slight smirk on her face. "You heard them?"

Max gave her an annoyed look. "Yeah, I know. Don't rub it in."

Bonnie chuckled lightly. Then, she gave him a serious look. "What did the referee say?"

"The tournament is being put on hold indefinitely," replied Max as the two started walking away. "Apparently, not just the news about legendaries had freaked people out; someone found out what had exactly happened with Ash and leaked that to the media."

Bonnie bit her lip in restrained anger. "They must have found out about Serena too then."

Max gave her a brief glance and nodded. "It's not like we would have been able to keep everything under wraps anyway," he said with a shrug.

"That still doesn't calm me down," said Bonnie, giving him a rather fierce look. She then sighed. "Let's just go ahead with what we were doing and see that Team Rocket gets dealt with."

Seeing that Max didn't say anything at her statement, she turned to him only to see him with a rather pensive look on his face. After a while, he turned to her. "I kind of want to force Team rocket to do some kind of heinous crime."

Bonnie gave him a shocked look."Have you lost your mind?"

"Actually no," said Max with a frustrated sigh. "I am fed up of their stupid antics. If their crimes are serious enough, they will be sentenced to death which will bring an end to their idiocies once and for all."

Bonnie gave him a long, calculating glance. "That's assuming no one on their organization escapes. And do you seriously want to risk lives of civilians for that?"

"You have a point there," admitted Max, after thinking a bit more about the plan that was forming in his mind. "But we should be able to do something about it."

"Like what?"

"I am thinking."

Bonnie shrugged. "Don't bother; I am not going to help you do anything that might risk civilians' lives."

Max sighed but didn't say anything. He then turned towards her. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Came to talk to Clemont," replied Bonnie, looking back ahead as they neared the Pokémon Centre. "He still hasn't had time to find much about Team Rocket. So, Cole is the next guy."

"He should be okay enough to talk," said Max as they entered the Pokémon Centre.

The first thing they saw as soon as they entered was the monitor in the entrance hall where people were seated. A reporter was standing near an unconscious Yveltal, reporting the entire incident and interviewing the people there. Listening for a while, it was obvious to both Max and Bonnie that none of the people knew what had exactly happened. They could see Korrina, the Shalour City gym leader, and her grandfather being tended to in the background as the reporter went on and on. They figured Cass must have had something to do with that and tore their attention away from the television as they made their way to Cole's room.

The two walked up to the door and Max knocked sharply. After a few moments, the door opened and Alicia appeared. Heidi was in the room too, and Cole was sitting up on the bed; all three of them looked well-rested. Alicia let the two in and closed the door behind her as she sat down on the extra space at the end of Cole's bed while Max and Bonnie occupied the chairs.

"Sorry about not being able to do much back then," said Cole sheepishly, directing his apology to Bonnie.

Bonnie shook her head. "You were good. The fact that you were alive was a big deal in itself."

Cole chuckled lightly, feeling a bit embarrassed. "I still don't know how I survived. Nurse Joy says my recovery had been incredible."

Bonnie exchanged glances with Max but didn't say anything.

"So what brings you here?" asked Heidi, looking at the two. "Weren't your matches today?"

"Well yeah," started Max slowly, scratching his cheek, "but things happened and the tournament is now suspended indefinitely."

The three were taken aback. "What happened?"

"You remember the article you showed me?" asked Max, looking at Alicia. He continued when she nodded. "Apparently, it's not just Kyogre; all the legendaries have gone berserk. And we just saw on TV that Yveltal was out cold."

The three looked horrified. "Have there been any casualties?" asked Alicia worriedly.

"Looks like it," interrupted Cole's voice. He had already opened his laptop and seemed to be browsing through the news articles. "Icirrus City in Unova is pretty much destroyed. An unconscious Kyurem and a bleeding Zekrom were found about a mile out from the city – or whatever has remained of it. Some other cities in different regions have been attacked too – so far they have found Petalburg City in Hoenn, Cerulean City in Kanto and Snowpoint City in Sinnoh. They are going to update as they find more information."

Cole looked up from the screen. The five were silent for a while. Then Max got up.

"Where are you going?" asked Heidi curiously.

"Police Station," replied Max, pausing at the door. He turned to glance back at them. "I guess Officer Jenny will know about what is happening where. Since Yveltal was found unconscious, chances are the other two legendaries must be wreaking havoc somewhere too."

"Aren't you going, Bonnie?" asked Cole, seeing that she hadn't gotten up.

Bonnie shook her head. "I have some work right here."

"Alright then, I will see you all later," said Max with a smile as he opened the door.

"Um… Max, do you mind if I come along too?" asked Alicia, a bit hesitantly.

"What for?" asked Max almost immediately, pausing just outside the room.

"I want to make sure none of our families are in immediate danger and if they are, to contact them," replied Alicia, slowly letting her hesitance wane.

Max didn't hesitate as he nodded. He then glanced back at the remaining three and gave another nod before leaving. Alicia gave a worried glance to her friends and then ran after Max, slamming the door behind her.

"What's up with her?" asked Cole after she disappeared.

"I am guessing," said Bonnie with a small smirk on her face, "she is crushing on him for some reason – or at least, she is interested."

Heidi and Cole gaped at her. "You can't be serious."

Bonnie turned to glance at them. "I am not sure but her body language seemed to suggest that; that's why I said I was _guessing_."

Heidi chuckled. "That's a surprise. I hadn't expected her to feel comfortable with a guy so soon."

"Well, she's comfortable around Cole," pointed out Bonnie.

"That's a different case altogether," said Cole. "We have known each other since childhood."

"I see."

"Anyway, what did you mean when you said you had some work right here?" asked Heidi curiously.

"Good thing you reminded me," said Bonnie sheepishly. "I almost forgot."

The two chuckled at her but waited for her to speak.

"Cole, what did you find about Team Rocket?" she asked, turning towards the guy. "I doubt they would try to kill someone who has never been a problem to them."

"I will tell you what happened right from the time I left the Pokémon Centre," said Cole, taking a deep breath.

* * *

 _"Where are you going off to?" asked Alicia from where she was sitting in the hallway when Cole suddenly appeared out of his room in haste._

 _Cole noticed her and immediately asked, "Have you seen Max, Bonnie or Cass yet?"_

 _Alicia shook her head. "What happened?"_

 _"I found a lot of things that might be useful to them," replied Cole, slightly breathless due to excitement. "They should absolutely see what I found."_

 _"What's with the hurry?" asked Heidi, showing up behind them._

 _"Have you seen Max or Bonnie or Cass?" asked Cole, looking at her eagerly._

 _Heidi pondered for a bit and then shook her head. "I haven't seen them since yesterday after their matches. What is it that you want to show them?"_

 _"What I found about Team Rocket," said Cole, reducing his volume at the last part as he glanced around them furtively._

 _"Well, none of us knows where they are, so you have no choice but to wait," said Alicia matter-of-factly._

 _"I think I have a good idea of where they must have gone," said Cole determinedly and then turned towards the exit of the Pokémon Centre. Glancing back, he waved at the two girls. "See you two later."_

 _He then quickly ran out of the centre, not hearing the worried and desperate screams of the girls. He made his way to the airport and continued further ahead where the highway curved and disappeared into the woods. Max had mentioned something about some slums and he had found something really interesting when he checked the tape of the camera that had disappeared from there – something Max had explicitly mentioned to him._

 _He had found the tape in a hidden folder in the Team Rocket database. After going through it thrice, he had seen something rather interesting and felt that he should check it out to have concrete evidence about his find before letting his friends know._

 _When Bonnie had appeared momentarily on the tape near the corner of the screen – he could easily recognize her blonde hair –, there had been a rather faint flash of light on the other corner of the screen – right after which, Bonnie seemed to have ducked under for some reason. He couldn't see why Bonnie had ducked; all he could see was she had bent down stuck to the wall of the hut she had been standing near. There didn't seem any other presence around in the tape, but Cole couldn't be sure._

 _The faint flash of light was, after some time, followed by an aura sphere in Bonnie's hand. Instead of firing it, she dissolved it and after some time, left the place. It was when Bonnie effaced the aura sphere that Cole noticed a persistent but really faint bluish-white light glowing near the same corner where there was the flash of light earlier._

 _The light persisted there for a while, and then suddenly disappeared. As soon as the light disappeared, the wall, where Bonnie had been, suddenly broke and a car appeared from the hut. It stopped suddenly and four people climbed out of it – one of them clearly Ace. The four stared in the direction where the light had been flashing and exchanged glances. Then the three of them climbed back into the car and started it while Ace used his aura to restore the hut back the way it was. Then he too climbed in the car and the car disappeared._

 _A few minutes after the car disappeared, a flash of light appeared right in front of the hut where Bonnie had been and a man materialized. He walked quietly to the far side of the hut and on to the next one and opened its back door. Then, a small aura sphere appeared on the man's fingertip and he traced something just past the door; Cole couldn't see what it was but from the way the man traced it, it seemed like a simple symbol._

 _As soon as the man was done tracing, he stepped back and another person walked out of the hut – it was a green-haired guy. As soon as the green-haired guy stepped out, he closed the door and started off in the same direction that Ace had taken earlier. They seemed to be animatedly talking about something._

* * *

Cole stopped. Bonnie sensed that he wasn't finished yet.

"What happened after that?" She prompted. "What else did the tape have?"

"The tape ends right there," answered Cole. "The problem was with the way it stopped recording – something had hit it from the front. There was a frame where a light flashed brightly – after that, the tape is empty. I suppose it was an aura sphere, but there wasn't anyone in its line of sight to have hit it."

Bonnie wordlessly nodded, staring at the ground. After a moment of silence, she glanced back at him. "And then you left to the slums to see what might have hit it, I assume?"

Cole nodded.

* * *

 _Cole reached the slums and after about an hour long search, found the alley which the tape had recorded. He made his way there slowly ahead as he recognized the hut which he had seen. When he reached the window, he slowly peeked in but there wasn't anything to see – in fact, the room was bare and had been stripped naked._

 _Recalling what he had seen in the tape, he tiptoed further ahead and stopped at the back door of the subsequent hut, trying to listen to any sound. Nothing; he heard nothing. It was so silent he could hear his own heartbeat loudly. He started breathing deeply, trying to calm down his nerves – his gut-feeling telling him to run against his determination to try and find what had happened there._

 _He first glanced up on the opposite side and looked from one end to other but could not see anything that remotely could have hidden a security camera. He knew what the camera had in its line of sight so he guessed the direction and slowly made his way there, hoping to see something. He stopped near another hut on the opposite side and glanced up. There wasn't any security camera but the wood up there looked slightly burnt, making him believe that he was on the right track. He retraced his steps back and slowly walked to the door._

 _Pausing there, he took another deep breath and grasped the door handle. Turning it slowly and noiselessly, he opened the door a bit and then peered in. It was so dark inside the hut that even with the evening sunlight pouring in at that time of the day, it was as if he was staring inside a black hole – as if the all the walls of the hut had been covered with vantablack. Disappointed, he closed the door again and gave a silent sigh._

 _After that, he decided to go and check the place where he had seen the faint light flash. Quickly making his way there, he looked around, but there was nothing for him to see – no indications of anything having burned there or aura being used._

 _Feeling disappointed even further that he hadn't found anything, Cole turned on his heels and slowly started retracing his steps. He had walked no further than a couple of steps when he suddenly felt some unknown aura spike. He turned back immediately to see the vantablack-walled hut glowing green from the inside._

 _Against his better judgement, he tiptoed towards the hut and peered in from the window of the glowing hut. Inside, he saw a spherical object – or it seemed sphereical; he couldn't be sure – glowing green brightly. As he kept on staring, black stripes appeared at the bottom and slowly extended over its surface towards the top – and then, they faded away._

 _This continued for a few more minutes after which, the glow suddenly died and the object disappeared in the darkness of the hut. His mind reeling with thoughts, Cole took a step back from the hut and let what he had seen sink in. The aura had felt intimidating and yet, he couldn't look away from it. It was as if his eyes were mesmerized by the aura's glow._

 _Unfortunately for him, just as he was about to walk away, he saw two shadowy figures running towards him. Cole was almost certain that they were the man and the green-haired guy who had walked away earlier. He knew at once that he couldn't run away without giving away his position. So, he decided to squat down right there in the small gap between the two huts._

 _The two men appeared as soon as he had uncomfortably squeezed himself in the small gap. It was the two people who had walked away earlier; Cole could feel their auras and could confirm that._

 _Just as the two men reached the door of the black hut, the strange object inside glowed very suddenly and so brightly that the twilight of the day seemed like noon. And of course, that brightness gave away his position to them._

 _The two men were stupefied when they saw a teenager squeezed between two huts in the light from the object._

 _"Pete, kill him!" yelled the green-haired man, snapping out of his stupor. His expression turned from shock and amazement to anger._

Oh crap, _thought Cole, knowing that he didn't have time to squeeze out of the space. He immediately formed an aura sphere and shot it towards Pete who countered it right between the walls with his own aura sphere. The explosion that occurred right after the two aura spheres contacted blew up both the huts that the police had been investigating and threw Cole away with third-degree burn marks on his chest._

 _The pain shot through Cole almost instantly. It was so sudden and so much that Cole started focusing his aura to heal it as he ran away from Pete who had been thrown back due to the explosion as well. The green-haired guy, outrageously incensed, started running after Cole, not waiting for Pete. Pete caught up anyway and the two chased after Cole who was running as fast as his feet would take him._

 _Not more than a couple of minutes later, Pete already had Cole in a vice-like grip and was holding him up in the air with his hands firmly restricting any bizarre movement of Cole. The irate green-haired man looked at Cole hatefully but didn't make a move, as if contemplating what he should do._

 _He soon seemed to have made up his mind. Forming an aura sphere about the size of a golf ball in his hand, the man approached Cole with an asinine grin on his face. Much to Cole's shock, he couldn't keep his mouth from opening wide as the ma brought the aura sphere to his face._

 _The next moment, Cole had a burning hot aura sphere being forced through his throat. He couldn't resist even if he tried and he had no idea how to stop this torturous treatment. As tears made their way down his face due to the pain, the absurdly large aura sphere was forced down his throat and in his stomach where he could feel it burning through the walls._

 _Then, the green-haired man snapped his fingers. The next moment, Cole lost his consciousness as his body bloated up._

 _"Leave him to die," said the man as he left Pete with the unconscious Cole._

 _Pete waited till he disappeared and then threw the unconscious teenager into a nearby tree. Then, he followed after his companion. He hadn't gone more than a few steps when he felt an aura approaching him rapidly. It wasn't his companion's but it was familiar – it was one of the girls that he had fought a few days ago._

 _Recalling what had happened that day, Pete felt compelled to deal with her right then. So, he went back to Cole, picked his ragged body up, and then started dragging him towards a nearby clearing. As soon as he reached the clearing, he threw Cole back just as Cass landed in front of him._

* * *

"And then you know what happened," finished Cole, glancing at Bonnie who hadn't changed her expression much except during the part where he had been tortured: she had shown shock and disbelief.

"I see…" she finally said after pausing a bit and thinking over what she had heard. "Do you remember if the hut is still there?"

"Nope," replied Cole blankly, looking at her as if she had gone mad. "Do you think I'd be focusing on that when I am trying to save my life?"

"Sorry about that," said Bonnie, sweat-dropping. "I was just wondering if you had noticed it."

"No, I didn't," replied Cole with a sigh.

Bonnie hummed a bit as she thought over everything that Cole had told her, and then nodded to herself. Getting up, she made her way to the door of the room.

"Where are you going now, Bonnie?" called Heidi just as Bonnie opened the door.

"To find Max," replied Bonnie without glancing back. "I think I know what to do next."


End file.
